The Tangled Days of Christmas
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: God bless you! In honor of the title, there shall be twelve chapters of Rapunzel's first Christmas at the castle. Filled with snowball fights, caroling, gingerbread house building and presents to be opened, it's going to be a very happy holiday. God bless you!
1. Early Morning Snowball War

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. Christmas is coming, people! This is the first chapter of twelve chapters of Rapunzel's first Christmas as a princess. I came up with this chapter thinking, "She's Rapunzel, and she hasn't really had the chance to play in snow while she was in a tower," so this chapter came about. Not to mention Rapunzel+Eugene and snow and Pascal in cute clothes is just too cute!**

It was the first day of December. The night before, the cold crisp air had had a bit of longing in it, and it whispered of good things to come. Rapunzel had been looking dreamily out on her balcony, Pascal on her shoulder, shivering in the cold with a small blanket wrapped around him like a substitute skin. Rapunzel was wearing a long pink nightgown and her pink slippers. Despite it being nearly twenty degrees out, Rapunzel found it all so exciting that she didn't want to go to her warm bed.

Fall had long since passed over Corona. All the trees were completely barren, and the gardeners had the hardest time cleaning up all the fallen leaves. The grass had gone from bright green to a brittle yellow, and the air had taken a turn for the colder.

Rapunzel didn't see the wind bitten kingdom. Instead, she saw a magnificent view of the kingdom, and the air seemed to hold a promise in it. The place didn't look barren to her; it looked like an excellently drawn picture.

Turning to the shivering and teeth-chattering chameleon, she whispered happily, "Do you think it'll snow here like it did back at the tower?"

Rapunzel was familiar with snow. Snow was cold, and wet, and really white. It had snowed in the winter in the valley where she grew up. She had found it delightful, like magic. Gothel, of course, would have none of it. All the snow that somehow made it onto the windowsill was shoved out with the broom, and the window was SUPPOSED to remain closed all the time to not let the precious heat out. Still, Rapunzel had always been curious about those precious snowflakes, so she had secretly sometimes opened the window to feel the snow falling. It had always excited her.

To answer her question, Pascal hastily nodded and gestured back inside her bedroom. In her room, it was warm and cozy and it WASN'T cold! Rapunzel let out a little giggle and said, "Okay, Pascal, let's go to bed." With a reluctant sigh, she crossed the balcony back to her room. Closing the heavy doors separating her bedroom from the outside, she ran, giggling as she leaped onto her bed. Her landing was softened by a mountain of white comforters and pillows. Pascal had been holding onto her skinny neck, and shrieked at the landing.

His head popped out of the sheets in surprise. Shaking the blankets off of himself, he crawled out of the bed and onto the bedside table. On the table was a chameleon size bed that Rapunzel had made. He hopped in and snuggled under the covers. Rapunzel had gotten herself covered into sheets like a rabbit in the garden. The only thing that peeked out was her white framed face.

"I hope it snows tomorrow," she had whispered hopefully to Pascal. The chameleon had nodded and had pulled his cover closer to himself to say, "Good night, Rapunzel."

"Good night to you too, Pascal," Rapunzel answered. She quickly sat up and blew out the single light emitting from her lamp. The elegant lampshade disappeared when her breath met the flame and extinguished it. Darkness fell over the bedroom as Rapunzel snuggled underneath the blankets. Oh, how she hoped it would snow.

That had been last night. Now, Rapunzel was awakened to a ticklish nose.

"What, stop it!" she giggled. She opened her eyes to see Pascal licking her nose with the silliest smile on his face, like he was holding in a laugh.

"Pascal! Stop that!" Rapunzel squealed, gently taking a pinch of his back skin between her fingers and lifting him off. He squealed and growled at her when she set him back in the bed. He pointed his tail toward the balcony and squealed at her.

"What, Pascal?" Rapunzel wondered as she sat up and stretched in bed. A sudden thought of realization of last night came upon her, and without a word, (she squealed), she jumped out of bed and raced to the balcony, dragging a surprised Pascal with her.

Throwing open the doors, she found herself face to face with a sprinkling of pure white snow. She laughed delightedly as she wiped the flakes out of her face and ran out to the balcony. The snow beneath her feet squished loudly and felt deliciously cold against her still warm feet.

She grabbed the railing, only to let go for it being covered in snow. With a happy smile on her face, she wiped away the snow on the railing. A thought came into her mind, and she ran around the railing, her hand steady on the railing, knocking off the snow.

Giggling, she looked at Pascal, who was wearing a look of happiness, excitement and complete and utter coldness. He smiled at her gingerly and pointed out beyond the balcony. She peered over the railing and sighed contentedly.

The entire grounds of the castle was covered in a generous sprinkling of snow. The stable roof was not to be seen, and the trees were prettily dressed for the holidays. Beyond the trees and snow topped buildings, the vast water had little patches of snow and ice floating around. Beyond the docks, the village was covered in the pretty white stuff. People were shoveling out the snow from their front doors, little children were making and throwing snowballs.

The whole atmosphere was enthralling, and Rapunzel didn't want to waste a minute. With a quick and contented breath, she and Pascal swept back into her bedroom. Pascal sat on her bed and closed his eyes as she, dressed only in her under blouse and bloomers, (she had no need for a corset), eagerly threw assorted winter clothes all over the floor from her vast closet. By her getting dressed so early, her mother's ladies-in-waiting wouldn't be able to come in time to help her get dressed, an outcome Rapunzel was hopeful for.

She pulled dress after dress off of their hooks. Finding a nice outfit, Rapunzel disappeared inside the doors of the closet. Pascal opened his eyes when she announced, "Done!" Throwing open the doors, she burst out, slipping on her own dresses. She was wearing a nice dark green dress, and on top of that was a cloak of dark red with white trimming. Pascal hissed apologetically as she picked herself up.

With a smile, she raced to her dresser where a mirror was. Fluffing her hair with a hairbrush, she hastily slapped on her red and white mittens, scarf and her thick heavy boots. She despised the clunky boots, but Mama was adamant about wearing them, and they _did _keep her feet warm.

With her appearance done, she quickly searched through the little dresser she had on her big one. This dresser was rainbow colored, and it contained Pascal's clothes. In his top drawer, she picked out four little mittens, and in the second drawer, a very fuzzy red coat.

Crossing the room, she approached the rather reluctant Pascal. The chameleon had had lots of dress up time in the tower, and he had never really liked it. Rapunzel set the clothing on the haphazard bed sheets and he groaned. When she held up one of the mittens and said, "Give me a paw, Pascal," he shook his head and bolted behind her pillow.

Rapunzel frowned and picked up the pillow, showing the world a shaking Pascal. With a squeak, he ran under the bed. Rapunzel chased him around the room for several minutes before he had been reduced to a panting reptile. Taking advantage of his tired state, Rapunzel gently poked him into his clothes. Sighing, annoyed, he relented to being dressed up like a doll.

Rapunzel smiled once she was done, and plopped him onto the bedspread. He sighed. She grinned happily and gave him a scratch on the back, "Oh, you look adorable, Pascal!" The sharp nails of her fingers dug gently into his skin, scratching away the annoyance he had for her at the moment. He sighed defeatedly and smiled as he relaxed under her caress.

"Alright, Pascal," Rapunzel giggled as she held him up to her face, "let's go wake up Eugene!"

The two excited and winter dressed figures bounded down the hallway to where Rapunzel's boyfriend slept. Rapunzel skidded to a stop on the slippery floor to lean against the door for any noise. Pascal had a harder time slowing down, and he nearly skidded into the door. Adjusting his balance, he mimicked Rapunzel.

Hearing no noise except a slight snoring noise emitting from his bedroom, Rapunzel straightened and knocked gently on his door.

"Eugene! Wake up, it's snowing!" Rapunzel called. No voice came from the room. Rapunzel frowned and carefully eased the door open.

Stepping inside, her eyes darted around until she found the sleeping figure on his bed. The ex-thief's feet were sticking haphazardly out of the covers. One foot had a sock only on his toes, and the other had lost its companion all together. His arms draped out off the side of the bed, and his snoring was really loud.

Rapunzel tiptoed to the side of the bed, Pascal following her. She hesitantly poked his back and called, "Eugene?" He gave her a loud snort for an answer and, "Five more minutes?"

"Eugene!" she said louder, giving him a shove. He only groaned and hugged his pillow over his head.

"Pascal?" Rapunzel called to him, a delightful idea popping up in her head. The chameleon nodded and rubbed his paws together evilly. Crawling over the lumpy covers, he made his way to his victim's head. Sitting up straight, he gave a little chuckle before he plunged his pink tongue into the man's ear.

Eugene's hand indistinctly rubbed against his ear, knocking the shocked chameleon off of his ear. Apparently it didn't work when the victim was still vaguely conscious. Or maybe it was do to the fact that Eugene might have built up an immunity to it. Nevertheless, Pascal was slightly mortified and insulted that it didn't work. Huffing angrily, he crawled over to Rapunzel and squawked out his frustrations.

"It's okay, Pascal," Rapunzel soothed. "I have another idea." Pascal watched her as she created her plan. Smiling evilly, he watched as she worked her magic.

Eugene was wrapped up in covers, warm and dry, but what was that wet stuff on his neck? Oh no, it was COLD! The ex-thief instantly yelped and jumped out of bed. Rapunzel and Pascal watched, amused as he ran a hand down his neck. His hand came out wet and cold.

"A snowball?" he groaned. Turning to his girlfriend and her friend, he saw the two exchange a little high five. They had woken him up with a snowball?

"That was cruel, and cold, Blondie," he accused. The brunette only smirked and Pascal laughed heartily, making him only more annoyed. No, he wasn't mad, but he was annoyed, dreadfully annoyed. The two noticed his glare, and with a giggle, she scooped up the chameleon and ran toward the door.

"You brought it on yourself," Rapunzel laughed as she ran out the room. Eugene growled, annoyed, as he wiped the residual snow off of his shoulder. Really? Snow?

* * *

Rapunzel bounded out into the crystal filled world. It was a winter wonderland! The little bushes and young trees along the walls of the castle were buried in whiteness, and the grass was covered like the top of a cake with powdered sugar. Little icicles hung down from the castle walls, gleaming light.

Rapunzel and Pascal each took a deep breath, filling their lungs with clean winter air. They both exhaled contentedly, and they both looked about eagerly. Rapunzel giggled and fell on her knees, getting herself covered in the white. Pascal slipped off of her shoulder and landed with a squeak.

A bright smile bloomed on Rapunzel's face as she squealed loudly to Pascal, "Let's make snow angels!" Pascal eagerly nodded, and the two of them stretched out. The cool mesh of cold flakes crushed against Rapunzel's weight, and it started to melt into her clothes. She let out an excited giggle as she let her arms and legs stretch out. Pascal mimicked her, and with a giggle, they started to wave them back and forth.

Rapunzel laughed happily as her arms swished around in the snow. So this was like to play in the snow! She was having so much fun! Pascal was too, for he was squeaking up a storm as he created his own little angel.

The silence save their laughter was broken when a voice called out, "Watch out!" Rapunzel was confused as she stopped flailing her arms and she let out a scream of surprise when a snowball plopped on her stomach. She instantly sat up and shoved the snowball off.

"Cold enough for you?" She looked up with angry eyes at Eugene, smirking like Flynn Rider. With a huff, she stood up her full height, (which wasn't really tall at all) and asked angrily, "Eugene Fitzherbert, what have you to say for yourself?"

"Just returning the favor?" he smiled smugly. Rapunzel continued to stare at him when she felt a slight feel of feet on her clothing. Pascal crawled up onto her shoulder with a small snowball in his hand. Inhaling after his climb, he offered her the snowball. Without switching her gaze, Rapunzel took the snowball and said firmly, "THANK you, Pascal." The chameleon nodded and almost fell off of her when she shoved the small snowball into Eugene's face, smushing it on his nose.

With a smirk of satisfaction, Rapunzel let her hand fall and she asked, "How does that feel?"

Eugene didn't bat an eyelash as he held up his large hand. In his palm, he held up a snowball and said, "What the question I should be asking you is, 'How does _this _feel?'"

Her eyes narrowed and she answered him threateningly, "You wouldn't."

"Would I?" he asked her. Rapunzel highered an eyebrow and ducked swiftly when he threw the snowball at her hair. With a giggle, she dashed away from him to a snowdrift. Panting wildly, she packed together snow into a ball. Peeking over the side of her impromptu fort, she saw Eugene squatting down on the ground, surrounded by nothing to hide behind.

Perfect.

Rapunzel drew back her arm and let the ball fly. It flew through the air with a satisfying sound and landed against his shoulder. He immediately looked up to see Rapunzel's eyes and hair peeping over the snow drift. He threw his snowball at her with a smirk, and it flew past her hair. The snowball left bits of snow in her brunette hair, and she gingerly touched the snow and drew her hand back with a squeal.

Pascal had settled back against a snow drift in neutral territory. Clasping his paws together, he leaned against the snow comfortably as the two started to pelt each other with snowballs.

Eugene soon made his way to a small tree, and he hid behind that, only leaning out to throw a snowball at the princess. Rapunzel sat with her back to her wall of ice, carefully making a stockpile of snowballs. Once she had a half dozen done, she immediately turned back to him and started to throw like a mad woman.

The snowballs they hastily threw together were filled with freshly fallen snow, bits and chips of ice and little tidbits of dirt. Pine needles stuck out of Eugene's since he was near a tree, and Rapunzel had bits of pine cone mixed in with hers.

The snowballs started to fall thick and fast, zooming through the air with lightening speed. Eugene quickly dodged a fast ball as it whizzed past him, and he hurriedly threw one blindly back at her. Instead of receiving the sound of a excited shriek from Blondie, he heard a soft scoff.

In an instant, he was peeking out behind the tree. Rapunzel was standing behind her snow drift with her hands to her mouth. Pascal was watching with wide brown eyes. Instead of the princess, he had landed a big snowball on the Queen's new hood.

Eugene immediately stepped out from the comfort of the tree and let his mouth drop as he stammered, "Your highness, I..I..."

Queen Catherine stood coldly on the ground. Her elegant hand absentmindedly brushed the snow off of her right shoulder, her gaze never straying from the ex-thief.

"Eugene," she said loudly in a voice she used in court, "if a man throws a snowball, it is not to be done while hiding behind a tree." Eugene could only stare as she bent down and scooped up snow into her hands. Patting it into a ball, she rose back into a straight position and called loudly, "Come out into the open, be a man!" And with that, she heaved the snowball at his surprised face. It smacked against him, falling apart upon impact.

Rapunzel couldn't help but let out a giggle as Catherine smirked and called over to her daughter, "Let's beat him!" The Queen rushed over to her daughter's side and the two immediately started to pack together snowballs. Eugene watched them in stunned silence. Had the Queen actually thrown a snowball at him? He heard a tiny snicker and turned to see Pascal chuckling at him. What the! How, how dare the frog laugh at him! Eugene immediately bent to his knees and started to pack together the wet snow.

A battle raged on. Catherine and Rapunzel were giggling non-stop, seeing as two were better against one. Their hastily made snowballs hit him like an arrow on a target. Eugene, however, was able to use snowballs to work away at their fort. Bit by bit, he was able to expose the two brunettes, leaving a perfect target for hitting.

Scooping a handful of snow together, he called, "Hey, Rapunzel!"

The princess stood up straighter as she threw a snowball at him, "Yes, Eugene?"

"Do you know what snow tastes like?" Eugene answered.

Rapunzel looked at him for a moment and turned to the snowball she had in her hand. It was white and crystally, like sugar. She tentatively took a small taste. Eugene smirked. That was all he needed. He threw the snowball at her just as she said, "It doesn't really taste like anything." The snowball hit her square in the cheek, collapsing on impact. She let out a little screech and turned to the ex-thief.

"Eugene Fitzherbert, that was an awful trick!" Rapunzel yelled at him furiously. She immediately bent to build another missile.

"All is fair in love and snowball fights!" he called back to her.

"It's 'All is fair in love and war!'" Rapunzel replied exasperatedly with another snowball.

"Ahh, but my dear, this IS war," Catherine corrected her daughter with a big smile. Rapunzel rolled her eyes in good humor at that.

Pascal had been watching both sides intently for quite sometime, but then it seemed that after multiple amounts of snowballs, the game was getting a bit boring. He yawned and let his mind turn astray. His wandered back and forth as he lazily watched the two sides battle. On the way back to watching Eugene, however, he spotted the familiar sight of King William. The royal was dressed in a large blue coat, black gloves and heavy fur lined boots, and was that an orange he was holding?

Pascal thought of nothing else as he picked himself up and scurried over to the man, avoiding the flying spheres of snow. He quickly scaled the man's side and ended up on his shoulder. He smiled at the man, hopeful to catch his attention. William noticed him, fortunately, and said in his deep voice, "Well, hello little fellow. Can I help you with something?"

Pascal grinned and pointed to his mouth with his paw. The King smiled and offered him a segment. Pascal instantly caught it with his mouth and chewed it up.

"Hungry, huh? Breakfast is ready, that's why I came out here," King William smiled as he waved his arm out to make his point, "to get the three snowball throwing machines."

Queen Catherine hastily wiped her brow and looked up. A freshly made snowball in hand, she was ready to win this thing, now. She narrowed her eyes and focused on the thief. He was busy pelting her daughter, who was eagerly fighting back. A perfect distraction. She let her arm go and sent the snowball flying. It met Eugene's forehead near his stray side hair. Her snowball had been tough enough to make a point, but soft enough not to hurt terribly.

"OW!" he yelled, dropping his snowball as he attempted to brush aside the snow.

The Queen smirked and walked over to where Rapunzel was standing, covered in snow and rosy pink. Both of them smiled at each other and folded their arms, Catherine yelling, "Truce, Rider?" That last part made Rapunzel giggle.

Eugene looked at her and answered, "Yeah, I guess. Truce." Rapunzel laughed and she did a high five with her mom.

William nodded to Pascal and he walked big, hulking steps over to his wife and daughter. Eugene, holding his eye with one hand, followed him.

"Well, I think it's time for you all to get cleaned up for breakfast, right?" William smiled. Catherine and Rapunzel glanced down at their clothes with a giggle. Their clothes, and Eugene's, were completely soaked and covered with bits of dirt and pine.

"I'd say cleaning is in order, yes," Catherine laughed. She placed an arm around Rapunzel's shoulder and let her other fall on the ex-thief's. "Let's go inside."

William nodded, and the five started to walk back toward the castle.

"By the way, Eugene, Mama and I won," Rapunzel informed him.

"I thought it was a truce," he pointed out.

"Yes, but you were the one who took the truce, making you the loser and Mama and I the winners."

"Really?"

"Really really?"

"I say we have a rematch after breakfast."

"Eugene," the Queen gently chided, "we can't. William and I want you two to go get the Christmas tree for the family parlor."

"Aren't you having all the Christmas trees being brought in by the servants?" Rapunzel wondered.

"Yes, but I want the family Christmas tree to be hand picked," Catherine explained.

"Alright, that's sounds like fun!" Rapunzel squealed. She looked ahead of her and found Pascal on her father's shoulder. Gently picking him off, she held him in her hands and asked, "Do you want to that with us, buddy?"

Pascal sighed contentedly and nodded. He would go. All he needed right now was food and warmth, and _that_ wasn't going to be too hard to come by.

**Alright, I know Rapunzel is a German fairy tale, so I looked it up on Wikipedia how they did/do Christmas. I don't really get it all (no offense to anyone who celebrates a German Christmas), but I think I'll be doing this my own sort of way. I hope you liked it, and please review! IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF DECEMBER! *Freaks out***


	2. New Discoveries

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. Sigh. Today, at Target, I got a Mickey, Minnie and Goofy Christmas cup and a Santa snow globe for $5.50 total. I feel so happy and rewarded. And cheap. I buy a lot of stuff cheap, 'cause I can't make myself pay full price. He he he he. My sister came up with this story idea. I added Maximus' part, 'cause, come on, Maximus pulling a one-horse open sleigh? Too cool!**

That morning, after breakfast, Rapunzel, Eugene and Pascal left for the woods to look for a Christmas tree. Maximus had decided to take the day off from being the head horse of the guards to pull them along. Hitched up to the two person sleigh, he boasted jingling bells that covered his entire saddle and bit. The sleigh was a deep rich brown, with recently polished runners. The sides of it had Corona's logo on it, a bright yellow sun. There was a comfortable seat for the couple, a red plush seat to be exact, and a dark green blanket to drape over their laps.

With a grin on his face, Maximus pulled the sleigh through town, his jingle bells jingling all the way. Rapunzel had acquired a red hat from her mother, who told her that she needed one. She held onto it with one hand to keep the wind from blowing it off, and used her other hand to hold on excitedly to the sleigh. Everything caught her eye, and she was forever pointing out each thing she saw.

"Oh, Eugene, look at the little snowmen the little red-haired girls are making!" Rapunzel pointed out. Eugene nodded for an answer, and leaned back against the back of the sleigh. He used his arms as a pillow for his neck, and settled back with a contented sigh. The little chameleon next to him snuggled inside the blanket cozily, warm and contented. He hoped that the princess would not decide to have another impromptu snowball fight.

"And, oh, look! The merchants are decorating their shops for the holidays!" Rapunzel fell back in her seat, her hands clasped together as she turned to Eugene and asked, "How do you decorate for the holidays?"

"Well," Eugene started as he eased himself into a straighter position, "the main colors are white," Rapunzel nodded, "red, and green. You get the green by hanging up holly, wreaths made out of pine, and Christmas trees."

"Like we're doing!" Rapunzel smiled excitedly, her eyes twinkling happily.

"Exactly. Then for the red, you get tons of red ribbon and holly berries," he continued.

"Do you eat the holly berries?" Rapunzel wondered curiously.

"Well, no. They're just for decorating. And then there's white, which comes from the snow. Oh, and there is my personal favorite decoration, mistletoe," Eugene smiled.

Rapunzel laughed and asked, "What's _mistletoe_?"

Eugene remembered that she didn't know what mistletoe was. About time to introduce her.

"Mistletoe, Blondie, is a plant used to decorate for the holidays. You hang it up on the ceiling," he explained.

"That's it?" Rapunzel asked, a bit surprised that that was it. It was a plant hanging from a ceiling. Really?

"Well, if a man and a woman are underneath the mistletoe together, they share a kiss," he explained, hiding a laugh. Rapunzel giggled and couldn't help but blush. Pascal looked from the ex-thief to the princess and let out a gag. He hid underneath the blanket thinking, "Humans are SO GROSS!"

Maximus rolled his eyes at the couple's conversation. Humans were officially weird. Shaking his head at them, he strolled on through town. His hooves clopped loudly against the hard streets, careful to avoid stepping in patches of snow. Like he wanted wet and cold hooves for the rest of the day.

Rapunzel settled back in her seat as she wrapped the blanket over her shoulders. She was amazed by every single thing she saw. She saw people putting up the Christmas wreathes and holly with red ribbons like Eugene had said. There was little children running around, yelling excitedly as they threw snowballs at each other. She smiled when she remembered their snowball fight.

Maximus drove the sleigh around the streets, careful to not run into merry people who were going shopping. The horse received many pats on the back, however, for all his hard work, and several apples from the children. They were at a stop for ten minutes before Eugene sighed, annoyed, and used the reins. Maximus turned back to him with a "Really?" look, and went right on eating the apples the children held out. After the last apple was consumed, he let each child pet his mane before he continued on. Once the kids had moved on, he turned to Eugene and highered and lowered his eyebrows.

"Stop that," Eugene growled. "You're making us late!"

"Late for what, Eugene?" Rapunzel wondered as she turned to him. "We don't have any meetings to go to today." Eugene folded his arms and glared at Maximus for that. It was just like that horse to get so much attention and to deal with it so nicely.

The horse neighed merrily at his annoyance, and continued on through town. On the edge of town, once all the people had thinned, Maximus sped up and ran across the bridge. The sleigh started to bounce wildly, including the people inside. Rapunzel squealed with delight as she hung on tightly. Eugene had a look of horror on his face as he gripped the side of the sleigh, his knuckles white against the wood, and Pascal was trembling under the blanket.

"This is so fun!" Rapunzel laughed happily. Her hat decided to fall off onto the floor of the sleigh, leaving room for her short hair to wave around wildly.

Maximus laughed merrily at Rapunzel's delight and the boys' horror. Once he was across the icy bridge, he slowed to a trot as he clopped onto the dirt road.

"That was great!" Rapunzel laughed.

"That was horrible," Eugene groaned. He slowly straightened up, having been tossed around by the evil horse, and whispered, "Hey, Pascal, you okay?"

The little chameleon crawled out from under the dark blanket. His skin was multi-colored, having flashed several colors as the sleigh had bounced. Trembling uncontrollably, he slowly nodded his head.

"Good," Eugene breathed. His face screwed up into that of annoyance and leaned over to Maximus, saying, "Max, you could have killed us!"

"He could have?" Rapunzel wondered. She then shrugged, and turning back to her side of the sleigh, she added, "I didn't notice."

"'Didn't notice?' Blondie!" Eugene groaned.

Rapunzel let out a laugh as Maximus brought them down the dirt road. The next few minutes were filled with peace and quiet. The only sounds were Maximus and his bells and the snow that occasionally fell from the trees. Rapunzel was mesmerized by the winter wonderland. Everything was blanketed in snow, and the air was crisp and clear. All the birds had gone south for the winter and all the little animals were hidden away in their little cozy homes.

Rapunzel looked out on her side of the sleigh, keeping an eye out for Christmas trees. A soft and firm pine would be good, she thought. As Maximus walked on through, she caught sight of a flash of green.

"Maximus, turn around! I saw green!" Rapunzel yelled excitedly. Maximus obediently walked the sleigh around and trotted back to where she had spotted it.

Stopping, he rolled his lips and looked to his right. There among the other broken down and leafless trees was a grove of Christmas trees. With a giggle, Rapunzel leaped off of the sleigh and bounded toward the trees. With a look of bewilderment, Eugene leaped over the side of the sleigh. Landing neatly on his feet, he reached into the sleigh and drew out the hatchet he had brought to chop down the tree. He held in firmly in his hands in order not to lose it and he raced after her. Pascal crept out from under the blanket and looked over the side of the sleigh. Seeing how it was a bit too far away for him, he shivered and crawled under the blanket yet again.

Eugene bounded after the childishly giggling Rapunzel, who was running a mile in a minute, even in her clumsy and annoying shoes. He stepped over long roots and hopped over large rocks as he caught up to her. Rapunzel pumped her arms and raced to the grove, stopping with a skid across the snow. She nearly fell over, but her little arm darted out and caught a tree branch, catching herself from falling.

"Whoa!" she yelled. Balancing herself, she grinned as she walked toward the trees. Eugene skidded to a stop and once he had straightened himself, he trotted after her.

The grove was located in a clearing of sorts. The rest of the wood surrounded the group of pine trees. It was like a family of pine trees, for there was a tree much taller than the others. It seemed to Rapunzel to be the father of the family. The trees were very tall, nearly seven feet high at least, and that was just the average height. The father tree was nearly thirteen feet tall, nearly three times as tall as the princess.

Rapunzel exhaled, smiling as she then inhaled the luscious scent of crowded pines. The smell nearly drove her mad as she turned to Eugene and asked, "Which one?"

"Well, choose any one you want, Blondie. It's your Christmas tree," he smiled. Rapunzel smiled back at him and turned to the trees. Her hands clasped behind her back, she slowly sauntered around the circle-ish group of trees. She sometimes hmmed to herself when she paused at one that seemed right, but then she'd turn away and keep on walking. Once she had walked around the entire outside of the gathering, Eugene asked, "Did you find one you wanted?"

The ex-lost princess shook her head and said, "I'm going inside." Without another word, she ran into the group of trees. Eugene cringed when he heard her hiss at the scratching of the long pine branches.

"Are you alright, Blondie?" Eugene called. A small voice floated out of the foliage, "Yeah, I'm fine." The sound of rustling became much more apparent as Rapunzel made her way through. Eugene stood on his tiptoes and was barely able to see a bunch of walking brown fuzz.

"Found one!" Rapunzel yelled over the trees.

"So have I, there's like twenty of them," Eugene responded teasingly.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel said in a warning tone. "Come here."

He heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his tussled brown hair. Holding his hatchet firmly, he carefully made his way to Rapunzel. Of course, he went and got scratched up by the trees' limbs. They were awfully long things.

With a grunt, he found Rapunzel standing proudly next to a tree. It was about eight feet tall, and it was plump and had a nice shape to it. Eugene let out a low whistle. He was impressed. For this being Blondie's first Christmas tree, she was very good at picking them out.

"Well?" Rapunzel wondered. Eugene cleared his throat and answered, "That's a good one, Blondie." He carefully bent down and examined the brown and bark covered bottom. A few inches from the ground would be good. He brought out his hatchet and carefully positioned himself in a squatting position.

"Stand back, Blondie," he told her. Rapunzel nervously backed away from the vicinity of the trees. She bit her lip as she twisted her cloak with her fingers. As Eugene raised the hatchet to chop it down, Rapunzel yelled, "Wait!"

Eugene sighed and let the hatchet fall to his side. Turning to face her, he asked, "What?"

"You're, you're not going to hurt it, are you?" Rapunzel asked timidly. Eugene inwardly groaned as he let the hatchet fall on the snow as he stood up. Leave it to Blondie to care if a tree hurts when it gets chopped down. She cared about practically every living thing in that way. Don't get him started when she first saw the dying plant in her mother's garden that summer. She had gone berserk trying to save it.

So, how was the best way to explain this to her? Trees can't feel things like pain like him or her. Now that he thought about it, that didn't make any sense, but it was true, and so he'd just have to roll with it.

"Well," he began, "no, it doesn't hurt a tree when it gets cut down."

"How do you know?" Rapunzel immediately asked, becoming very defensive of the poor tree. Eugene blew the ground a raspberry as he answered, "Because trees don't have feelings, and without feelings, you can't feel pain."

"Why doesn't it feel pain, Eugene?" Rapunzel wondered, more curious than angry now. Eugene looked at her with a tad bit of disgust and asked, "Didn't you have a plant book in that tower?"

"Yes, but it didn't have anything about why trees don't have feelings," Rapunzel pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Well," Eugene said, a little irritated that they were even having this conversation, "it doesn't." When Rapunzel looked from him to the tree with a worried face, he offered, "You can go stand away where you can't see it if that makes you feel better."

Rapunzel brightened at that idea, "Okay!" And she dashed out of the group of trees. Eugene sighed in relief and turned back to his job. Raising the hatchet again, he sighed and couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Sorry if this hurts."

Rapunzel was standing outside the ring of tree, but she could hear the chops echoing in the snowy world. After a few initial cringes, she had gotten used to it. Turning around, she started to explore the wildness.

Corona was known for having safe woods, so she had nothing to worry about. The bears were hibernating, food stored away in their bellies for the winter, and the deer was long gone. Rabbits and chipmunks and the squirrels had all disappeared, and no bug was about to examine. So Rapunzel fell open watching the trees.

Covered in mountains of snow, the trees stood bare and proud as they reigned over the wood. Most of them were brown, but some had grey and black bark growing on them. One had an orange-ish fungus growing on it, looking like a mushroom. Rapunzel knew from her plant book that those were poisonous.

Some had only the slightest hint of green, except the pine trees. All the vines that had overran the forest had disappeared in the winter snow. So it was to Rapunzel's surprise that she noticed a bit of green. Walking slowly toward it, she watched and examined it carefully.

"Eugene?" she called, not letting her gaze stray from the foliage. A loud grunt came from his direction as he called back, "What?"

"What is this plant?" Rapunzel wondered.

A loud groan and the sound of the Christmas tree tumbling down filled the air. Letting the hatchet fall from his hands to the snow, Eugene wiped the hair out of his face and called back, "Just, wait a minute!"

Rapunzel turned and watched with a hand-covered-trying-to-suppress-a-smile-mouth as Eugene started to pull the tree out of the tightly knit group. The trees started to sway and creak as he carefully dragged the tree out of the group. Once out, he let the trunk of the tree fall to the ground as he glanced at Rapunzel. Wiping his face with his hand, he walked over to Rapunzel and asked, "What plant?"

"That one," Rapunzel pointed upward. Eugene couldn't help but smile at the green leafed plant with white berries growing out of it.

"Well, my dear princess, is mistletoe," he informed her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Mistletoe?" Rapunzel asked, looking back at the plant. Her eyes strayed from the plant and onto Eugene, who was looking at her with a big grin.

"What?" she wondered.

"Do you remember what I said about couples kissing under the mistletoe?" he asked, his lips betraying himself with a smile.

"What?" Rapunzel asked, confused. Then it dawned her about what they were talking about in the sleigh. "Ohhhhhh." Chuckling softly, the ex-thief wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her closer with him underneath the mistletoe. She giggled and wrapped his lips in hers.

Breaking the kiss, she said slowly, "Merry Christmas, Eugene."

He answered with a quiet, "Merry Christmas, Rapunzel."

With that, they gathered up the Christmas tree and the hatchet, and ran yelling happily all the way to the sleigh. As the two loaded the tree onto the sleigh, their giggling caught Maximus' ear. They didn't giggle THAT much all the time. Maximus turned to Pascal, who shrugged in response.

Their question was answered when Maximus started the ride home. Rapunzel was clasping a sprig of mistletoe.

**I hope you liked it, and please, leave a review!**


	3. Oh, Christmas Tree

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. I came up with this chapter with the idea that Rapunzel would decorate her room, but instead it turned into the royal family and Eugene and Pascal decorating the royal family's parlor's Christmas tree which is in their own private family room. ****I hope you enjoy!**

After supper was over that evening, Eugene recruited Conli to come and help him lug the tree into the parlor. Rapunzel had taken off her outside clothes, including her boots, over which Catherine was bit peeved by. She, with Pascal now without wearing his embarrassing clothes, followed Catherine into the royal kitchen.

"Why are we here, Mama?" Rapunzel wondered. Pascal scrunched up on her shoulder as Catherine slowly opened the large door, revealing a very busy room. The huge room was filled with tables and counters and the big brick ovens. Cooks were busy hunched over their bread and dough making, their thick arms sweating against the bowl. The kitchen was warmer than the rest of the rooms of the castle do to the amount of fire they had in here.

There was three large fireplaces lining the walls. Mortar covered the red bricks and those were stacked dozens high. Hanging over their fiery red coals, large black kettles roared gently on hooks. The food inside of them was bubbly loudly, sometimes peeking out the sides of the pots and getting burned by the fire.

People were rushing about; cooks running around with various pots and pans and baskets while the palace decorators were trying to hammer wreathes on the walls away from the ovens. The icemen were entering through the back door, carrying large cubes of ice with thick metal tongs.

Rapunzel, Pascal and the Queen walked in cautiously. Rapunzel let her hand grab her mother's arm protectively in panic. People were being particularly loud, especially the head chef, who was standing on a flour crate with a rolling pin in his hand, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Get a move on! You," he pointed to an unfortunate soul, "get seven chickens in the ovens! Dress them and tie them up on the rotisserie!" The lad he was pointing to instantly nodded and ran to the cooler.

Catherine smiled at the sight of the man (Rapunzel and Pascal could not see why) and slowly shoved off Rapunzel's hand. "I'm going to go talk to him. Stay here for a moment." Rapunzel cringed as her mother slowly made her way through the chaotic kitchen. Sure, her own mother had left her to fend for herself in this place of madness. She was so nice.

She turned to Pascal, who was more than slightly frightened. The little chameleon shook under the stare of a fat man rolling dough in the corner. "This wasn't so bad, right?" he thought to himself. "Yeah, just got left with Rapunzel in a ginormous kitchen and the Queen is gone. Yep. Just stand still, don't do anything that might offend somebody, and I should be goo-Wait! What's that smell?" Pascal's little nose instantly wrinkled, and it started to sense something good.

Standing up, he started to loudly sniff the air. Rapunzel noticed what he was doing and was about to ask what he was doing when she caught the smell too. Her little nose perked up at the scent. It was beautiful; cinnamony and lemony hints. What was that smell?

She and Pascal turned their heads about searching, and noticed Atilla standing by a pot on the fire. The man was slowly stirring the contents of the pot, which bubbled up. With a smile, Rapunzel walked over to him and took another deep sniff. The smell was definitely stronger now. She stepped a bit closer to Atilla and took a sniff. The man in the knight's helmet turned to her, giving her what she was sure was a disturbed look on his face. She stepped back and blushed. No, it wasn't him.

Pascal stepped away from her shoulder and with his little arms holding himself up, stretched out into the open air. He inhaled deeply and with an excited grin, chirped to Rapunzel. She watched as he eagerly pointed out the pot.

Rapunzel stepped closer and took a whiff. Yep. It was definitely the pot Atilla was stirring.

"Hmm!" Rapunzel smiled as she inhaled deeply. "What is that?"

Atilla stopped stirring and turned to her. In a deep, dark and gravelly voice, he answered, "Christmas smell."

Christmas smell? Was that a traditional holiday drink that Eugene hadn't bothered to tell her about?

"Christmas smell? What's in it?" she wondered curiously. She bent closer to look inside the open pot. It was a clear liquid speckled with bits of fine brown dust. There was several slices of citrus fruit floating it in, and little black things that looked like nails.

"Lemon, orange, clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and water," he said simply. Rapunzel couldn't help but wrinkle her nose at that. She had thought that Christmas drinks had things like chocolate or milk or sugar in them.

"Does it taste good?" she asked.

"Oh no, you don't drink it. You just make it to make kitchen smell nice," Atilla explained.

Rapunzel smiled at that. Good thing too, for she was sure she wouldn't try it if they were supposed to drink it.

"Well," she said brightly, "it DOES smell good." She could detect the slightest smile under his armor when he answered, "Thank you, your highness."

"Rapunzel?" Rapunzel turned to see her mother standing behind her, a smile on her face. In her arms was a brown box with a firm lid. The solid lid wasn't on firmly, however, and Rapunzel managed to catch sight of a bit of brownness from the box. Inhaling slightly, she caught a whiff of ginger.

"What's in the box?" Rapunzel wondered.

Queen Catherine smiled at her daughter's curiosity and gently lifted the lid. Pascal scooted closer to the box with a drooling mouth. Inside the box there was little gingerbread men, with little heads and arms and legs. They were each decorated with white frosting, and each one had a hole in its head where a glittery string was strung through. Rapunzel couldn't help but clasp her hands and aww at them.

Along side the little men were pieces of red and white candy twisted into the shape of a shepherd's cane. There was popcorn all dumped into a corner, and when Rapunzel tentatively picked a popped kernel up, she discovered that it was attached to the other kernels by string.

Beside those, there was little star shaped pastries. Some were their plain color of white with brown edges, but some had been dusted with green and red sugar.

A servant scurried over next to the Queen, holding a bushel basket. Inside the basket was small apples and little pears.

"What's with all the food, Mama?" Rapunzel asked curiously. She wasn't sure what popcorn and apples had to with decorating a Christmas tree. Perhaps a picnic was in order this holiday season?

"We're going to decorate the tree with it, sweetheart," Catherine patiently explained.

Rapunzel looked at her mother with a uncertain look. "Really?"

"Yes! We're going to drape the popcorn around the tree and we're going to place the candy, the cookies and fruit on the branches and we're going to add candles," Catherine replied. Rapunzel hmmed to herself and nodded. The servant groaned loudly at the weight of the bushel and Rapunzel immediately reached out and grabbed the basket.

"Let's go, Mama," Rapunzel said cheerfully. She carefully turned on her heel and walked (at a very fast pace) to the kitchen door. Queen Catherine followed her, and was about to call a servant over to open the closed door for her when instead the princess simply reached out with her nimble foot and pulled on the handle. The door easily opened, and Pascal held on for dear life as she raced to the family parlor.

Making her way through the castle was hard in and of itself. The corridors that she had to navigate through were filled with maids and servants running around like chickens with their heads cut off. In their bouncing arms, they held the boughs of pine, the ribbons of red and all of the necessary decorations to spruce the castle up for the Christmas season. Rapunzel was easily able to duck and dodge, scoot and weave her way among the men hanging up the holly along the walls.

Garlands of pine were draped along every which railing or thin beam that the decorators came across. Poinsettias were placed into tall glass vases on every available table standing around unadorned. Several painted pine cones grouped together in little piles, and gold stars studded the rooms.

Rapunzel couldn't help but slow down and gaze about her. The whole place simply REEKED of Christmas, and Rapunzel wouldn't have it any other way. Every single person she passed she yelled, "Merry Christmas!" to, causing her throat to start to hurt when she reached the family parlor. Gulping down some much needed saliva, Rapunzel slowly opened the door.

Inside the red and white painted room, a feeling of instant warmth filled Rapunzel. There was a warm fireplace standing in the middle of the center wall. Little flames poked out of the fiery ashes, causing the logs to shift and crackle as they stirred into place. Next to the fireplace was a baby grand piano and next to that was a long couch of sorts. It was a soft and comfy seat, and as her mother had called it, it was a 'loveseat'. Apparently that was why it was built for two.

Ninety degrees to the left of the sofa was a large armchair, outfitted in bold red and gold trimming. The carpet was a dark brown wood flooring with a rich red rug, and the walls had a large sun on it, for the kingdom's logo.

Rapunzel smiled and bounded into the room, setting her Christmas ornaments down on the floor next to the fireplace. Straightening up, she let her hand swipe the mantle. It was warm from being baked from the fire and it was a clean white color. Perfect for decorating.

Catherine followed her in, setting her box of goodies by Rapunzel's. Smiling at her daughter, she said in her elegant voice, "Your father shall be here in a minute."

"Oh, that's good. I can't wait for decorating!" Rapunzel squealed excitedly. Pascal crept out from her shoulder and gave her a thumb's up and an eager grin. The small chameleon was about as excited as she was.

They both turned when they heard a severe grunt coming from outside the door. Rapunzel heard a familiar voice call out, "Pick up the end, Conli!"

"I'm, I'm trying, Fitzherbert! But it's all branch-y and scratch-y!"

"Conli!"

Rapunzel slowly crossed the room to open the door, and gave a loud squeak when she opened the door wider. Eugene was dragging the front end of the large Christmas tree and Conli was behind, panting violently for what little effort he gave. Fortunately for them, one of the guards had trimmed the tree down, or else they wouldn't have been able to squeeze it into the room. The ex-lost princess leaned against the wall and pulled the door closer to herself, using it as a shield for reasons even she didn't know why.

The two dragged the pine tree to the right side of the fireplace; Catherine hastily laid out a red blanket on the floor for the tree to rest on. Eugene and Conli managed to make the tree stand up on its trunk.

Eugene paused to wipe his face with one hand while he used the other to support the tree. "Conli," he said, "get me the pot." The guard nodded and dashed out the door. Rapunzel squealed as he quickly ran back in, lugging a planting pot full of dirt. Setting it on the blanket, Conli cautiously held onto the bottom of the tree's trunk. Eugene grabbed the top of the tree and with a, "Lift!" the two were able to lift the tree the few inches they needed into the pot.

Conli breathed a sigh of relief and hastily took his hands out from under the branches. Eugene used one hand to hold up the tree while he packed the loose dirt around it, securing it to the pot. Once his task was done, he straightened up and heedfully let go of the large tree. It was able to not sway and to stand on its own.

Rapunzel released the door and then, and only then, did she remember the frightened-out-of-his-wits Pascal on her shoulder. His little body was flashing colors, a clear sign that the little guy was frightened.

"Um, Pascal?" Rapunzel asked tentatively. She gently gave him a little poke; fortunately he responded by looking at her with an annoyed look. He gave her a pat telling her that he was fine; they were no longer dragging large trees around the castle.

Rapunzel giggled and joined her mother by the fireplace as Conli ran out of the room. The lad returned soon after bearing a box full of assorted decorative Christmas things. The King came right behind him, who was followed by a girl bearing a tray of hot drinks. Conli and the girl set their things down and ran out of the room, shutting the door loudly behind them.

Catherine smiled and bent down to unpack the various boxes. Rapunzel got on her knees, sporting a childish grin. King William chuckled softly at their enthusiasm and settled down in his large armchair. He reached across the coffee table that his wife and daughter were rapidly filling up and grabbed a large mug full of coffee. Eugene blew out a heavy breath and settled on the couch.

Pascal sniffed the air and sighed. These were some good smells. His little sensitive nose caught cinnamon, sugar and butter, fresh fruit and popped corn. Coffee and whiffs of cocoa caught his attention, and all of this was making him very hungry. He looked at Rapunzel and when she seemed to be caught up in her own thing, he shrugged and carefully crawled off of her shoulder. Crossing the coffee table carefully, he was able to get to the coffee tray.

On the coffee tray, there was a large cup of coffee, and two smaller ones filled with cocoa. Those were presumably for the Queen and Rapunzel, for Pascal knew that those two loved chocolate. Next to them there was a small cup. Pascal, with a curious glint in his eye, crawled over to it and peeked over the edge. It was a small cup, the size of a spool of thread really, and was that marshmallows?

Pascal quickly closed his eyes and reopened them. Yes, they were! There was one, two, THREE little marshmallows! That's it! He was going to ask Rapunzel if this was being saved for someone, but this had _marshmallows _in it! Without a thought, he stood up on his hind legs and started to drink the cocoa like a dog drinks water. Pausing for a moment to catch his breath, he caught sight of the cookie plate. He immediately grabbed a sugar cookie and started to eat and drink and be merry.

Rapunzel and the Queen soon had gotten out all the goodies, and they started to decorate. Eugene and Rapunzel carefully draped the long and curvy ropes of popped corn around the boughs of the tree, Catherine guiding them along. Once they were done with that, Eugene and Rapunzel dug into the box of candles.

Each armed with a handful of the plain white sticks of wax, they both gathered around the tree. Eugene held a little copper pot full of melted wax that had been heating on the fireplace. Rapunzel carefully dipped the bottom of each candle into the hot wax, and cautiously stuck it on the branches of the tree. Once she was out of candles, she carefully took the little pot and let Eugene go at it.

Once they were done with the candles, Rapunzel bounced off the stool she was on and placed the pot near the fire.

"Let's decorate with the ornaments!" the princess squealed. Catherine and Rapunzel and Eugene went to work. The little apples appeared on the tree, surrounded by green and yellow pears. The candy canes were hung on the longest branches and the string-strung cookies and pastries were placed on the smaller ones.

King William watched the three, content to just sit in his large chair and enjoy the cheery season. Pascal made a point to sneak glances at the tree between his sips and bites. Once they had run out of food related ornaments, Catherine bent down and retrieved the box that Conli had brought in. She dug through and started to hand ornaments to the couple.

Rapunzel stood up on her stool, careful not to fall. She eagerly and just as cautiously hung up the decorations her mother handed her. There was blow glass balls with little hooks coming out of their tops to hang onto the branches. There was some little white angels with glittery wings and sparkly halos. Along with those, there was small old pine cones that had been painted red and white and green. All these were hung with upmost care around the tree.

Whilst they were hanging up the last of the ornaments, Catherine decorated the mantle with a large angel that was meant to be the angel Gabriel and surrounded him with two other angels. The rest of the mantle was decorated with small green, red and white candles.

After she had hung red ribbon bunting along the sides of the mantle, Catherine struck a match on the bottom of her shoe (so very unladylike, but then again, the Queen was never always so careful of her ladyness), and lit the match. She gently kissed each candle with the match, having the whole mantle glazed over with rich, warm light. Once she was done, she handed the match to Eugene and handed him another one. He touched the tips together and once they were both alit, he handed one to Rapunzel.

Together, they lit all the stately white candles on the tree, making the whole tree glow with Christmas light. Once they were done, they simultaneously blew out their matches.

With a smile, Catherine laughed and turned to the young couple, both eagerly waiting for the last item. She bent down and retrieved the tree topper.

A large five-point star.

"Here, put it on together," Catherine commanded with a smile. Eugene smiled and caught the star. Walking over to Rapunzel, he carefully grabbed her legs and balanced her on one of his shoulders. Rapunzel let out an excited squeal and instantly grabbed the star. Catherine and William and Pascal laughed as Catherine grabbed her coffee. Without a warning, she plopped onto her husband's lap. He gave a little oof! She smiled and patted his hand, to which he returned.

"Careful, Blondie," Eugene warned. Rapunzel shook her head at his warning and gleefully secured the bottom of the star to the top branch. She cautiously let go, and it swayed for a moment before gently coming to a stop. Rapunzel squealed at that and Eugene lowered her to the floor.

"Cocoa time!" Rapunzel squealed. She kneeled on the carpeted floor and reached for her and Eugene's cocoa cups. It was only then that she noticed the green chameleon leaning against his little cocoa cup. Two large cookies had disappeared from the tray, and Pascal's stomach was slightly extended.

"Pascal, did you eat two whole cookies?" Rapunzel wondered maternally. Pascal sighed contentedly and slowly nodded, his ability to nod slightly slowed.

"Well, don't get a tummy ache, okay?" Rapunzel told him. He again nodded, his paw patting his stomach. With a giggle, Rapunzel stood up and flopped onto the loveseat, heedful of her drink. Eugene had been sitting comfortably on the seat and gave an oof! when Rapunzel sat down. Rapunzel laughed and handed him his cocoa cup.

"Well, I think the tree looks lovely," Catherine said.

"Yes. The perfect tree for our first family Christmas," William smiled. Rapunzel only giggled and replied, "Mama, do you know how to play the piano?"

"Why yes, I do. Why do you ask?" the Queen wondered.

"Well," Rapunzel said as she took a sip of cocoa and sat up straighter, "there was a song I heard in the villages this morning. It went like this, 'Deh, deh, deh, deh... deh, deh, deh, deh.'"

"Oh, that's Joy To The World," Catherine explained. She set her coffee cup back on the tray and carefully made her way to the piano. Moving her skirts around so that she was comfortable on the piano seat, she searched through a pile of sheet music on the piano's top. Finding the one she wanted, she smiled and placed it for her to see. Glancing at the ivory keys, she started off with a loud bang! She cleared her throat and started off, her fingers dancing easily over the keys.

The sweet soft music filled Rapunzel's ears, and she leaned against Eugene and sighed. "That's beautiful, Mama."

"I know, Rapunzel. It's one of my favorite Christmas songs," Catherine told her. Rapunzel smiled even more brightly and snuggled against the ex-thief's arm, which had wrapped around her shoulders and squeezed her comfortingly.

The Queen's playing continued through the evening. Darkness filled the room (except for the light emitting from the fireplace) from the bay window, and through the bay window, the outside world was filled with the soft falling of new Christmas snow.

**The songs in this story, the candy 'canes' and blow glass ornaments are actually from the 18th and 19th century, and I imagine Tangled is earlier than that, but hey, it's Disney and Christmas, I can bend a few things! And what's with all the food the cooks are making? I don't know, it's the holiday season, it's all bound to get eaten! I honestly don't know how to put candles on a Christmas tree, so I used my imagination! Please review! Happy Holidays!  
**


	4. Motherly Advice Part 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled this holiday season, or ever. This chapter idea came from my sister, who rocks and is totally awesome and is as obsessed with Tangled as I am. Also, in this chapter, Pascal is so loyal. I wish I had a Pascal, a real Pascal, not a plush one, (I already have one of those), wait, Christmas is coming up...*acquires Russian accent* Lightbulb! Oh, and happy birthday Walt Disney! I don't know where I'd be without you!  
**

Pascal watched his best friend walk the length of her bedroom. It was an awfully long bedroom, so after two trips back and forth, the princess was out of breath.

Rapunzel's bedroom had been beautifully decorated, by herself and Eugene, of course, why leave such fun stuff to the servants? Her bed board had a wreath over it, a red ribbon tied about it. At the end of her bed, it had two garlands wrapped around the bedposts. Her painted walls were adorned with red and white evenly spaced bows, and tiny little angels were hung from the ceiling. Rapunzel, to Pascal's disgust, had hung a sprig of mistletoe over her bedroom door. Humans, ick!

The servants had scolded her about her leaving her closet in such disarray, which was now neatly organized and all the clothes were put away. Wreathes and boughs of holly hung all around the room, including Rapunzel's little white desk that sat under the window, which showed a pretty scene of snow falling.

The room was beautiful, and yet the princess was biting her lip as she slumped down into her little white chair that belonged to her little white desk. She folded her arms and rested her head in them. A pencil that was near the window slowly fell toward her. She absently pushed it back, only to have it fall back down again.

Pascal, sitting on the windowsill, chirped loudly to remind her of the task at hand. What formidable deed must the two work at?

What to get Eugene for Christmas.

"Pascal," Rapunzel moaned as she let the pencil fall on the floor. She raised her head to look at him and asked, "What should I get him?"

The little chameleon shrugged. One thing about being a chameleon is that they don't give or make people Christmas gifts. It's kind of hard with their little reptilian paws. But still, even if he couldn't give gifts, the princess of Corona could. And she would. It was just a matter of having no ideas whatsoever.

Rapunzel scoffed silently and looked about her desk. A few pieces of plain white paper lay about and her little pair of sewing scissors. But who ever said that they couldn't be used for something beside sewing?

Straightening up, Rapunzel grabbed a piece of square paper and made it into a triangle. Folding over the triangle several times, she started to attack it with the scissors.

"I mean, Pascal, what would he want? I have no ideas at all. I thought Christmas would be fun but it's kind of hard," Rapunzel said to him between snips. Pascal kept his distance away from her and her rabid cutting tool and nodded.

"I know, I could get him an island, right off the coast!" Rapunzel said sarcastically. She unfolded her paper to reveal a half shredded piece of paper. Sighing, she formed it into a wrinkly ball and threw it over her shoulder. Pascal watched it sail over the course of the room and land softly on the covers.

"Gothel had been so easy to give stuff to. Well, easier. A homemade potholder or a pretty necklace. Now, Pascal, I have no idea what boys like! I've only given you presents and it was always food! I can't give him food!" Rapunzel groaned. She leaned against her chair's back and groaned again. Father and Mama had been easy to do. A homemade scarf with his initials for her father and a pretty bracelet and earring set she had made herself out of beads for her mama.

But what to get Eugene? What were you supposed to give the man you love with all your heart? What if she did something wrong, if it wasn't perfect, would he still think the same of her?

Of course he would, but Rapunzel couldn't help but feel perfectly miserable as she sighed and propped her head on her clenched fist. Her eyes looked out beyond the window, into the snowy hills. Somewhere, there was a perfect gift for him; it was just a matter of finding it.

Pascal sat worried. Rapunzel, usually such a optimistic and fun loving person, was rather sad looking on this day of December. What the little chameleon couldn't think of (beside gift ideas) was how he could cheer her up. He had run out of ideas way back in that tower.

Maybe he could get her to go see the ex-thief? A conversation with him might reveal some ideas. But, then again, the little chameleon realized, Rapunzel was never good at concealing things like that. He would never reveal anything good. Maybe a walk through the village to clear her mind? Nope. It was turning into a mini blizzard out there.

Maximus? The stables were outside. King William (who Pascal had taken a keen liking to after discovering that they both thought of eating as one of the finer things in life) was busy in his study. Kingly duties were overwhelming him this Christmas season, and the last thing he needed at the moment was Rapunzel asking questions about gifts.

That left one option. The Queen. In fact, that was a very good option. She had been married to the King for years and years; she's bound to know what men like.

With this thought in mind, Pascal leaped off of the windowsill and skidded, slipping on his own feet a few times, to the white door. Looking up, he saw the mistletoe. He gagged and turned to the slumped and worried figure by the desk. Chirping loudly, he grinned to himself when he caught her attention, her figure turning over to see him. He eagerly pointed to the door and in an effort to communicate with her, turned colors to duplicate the Queen.

He was rewarded with a smile as she bent down and caught him, giggling at his impression. He smirked and slowly turned back into a dark green.

"Thanks, Pascal," the princess whispered gratefully. Her loyal friend only gave her a small nod as she eased the door open and bounced down the halls, hair flying. The two companions laughed and shrieked as they made their way through the long, cold hallways. It was now turning to late afternoon, causing whatever shadows the windows let come in to be dark and eerie. Still, Rapunzel was not one to be perturbed by such things, and she paid them no mind.

Catherine was sitting in the family parlor, drinking in the lush quietness that she got so rarely. With all the other members of her large household busy, she could relax and pay them no mind. The fire crackled gently in a comforting sort of way, bringing a warmth that the heat couldn't bring into the room. Even though the curtains were pulled back, there was the slightest crack, revealing a slurry of frosty flakes.

The gentle woman set the book she had been flipping through onto the brown coffee table before her. She drew her knees onto the cushy seat she sat upon and drew them closer to her dress hugged body with her hands. Sighing happily, she gazed on into the flames that leaped and bounded in the brick crevice in the wall.

Everything was so dark and quiet that the Queen was never have seen her daughter creeping along in the shadows if she hadn't been whispering silently to Pascal. Turning slightly, Catherine said in a quiet tone of voice, "Rapunzel?"

The princess, at the sound of the voice calling out her name, shrieked loudly, jumping up and causing the chameleon on her shoulder to squeal, annoyed at the sudden movement.

"Did I scare you, sweetheart?" Catherine laughed gently. Rapunzel giggled sheepishly and said, "Sorry, I didn't expect you to say something." Her explanation evoked a maternal knowingness inside Catherine, telling her that she was not here to sneak around the castle.

"Come sit down, Rapunzel," Catherine said, waving her hand near to the fire, the place she knew that Rapunzel had taken over as her personal spot. Rapunzel nodded obediently and carefully sat down on the carpet, arranging her skirts to cover her legs. Pascal crawled off of her shoulder and over to the coals. Cupping his paws together, he breathed into them and let them float over the hot fire, warming up his digits.

Rapunzel shifted around nervously when Catherine said patiently, "Now, what is bothering you?"

"Well, you see, Mama," Rapunzel said, twisting away at what hair she could reach without too much bother. She sighed and blurted, "I don't know what to get Eugene for Christmas!"

Catherine seemed to not be fazed by that at all. It was not a horrible, making-life-completely-and-utterly-miserable sort of thing, but it was upsetting to her daughter, who had never done this before.

The Queen smiled and said, "What do you think he would like?"

Rapunzel looked at her with a "Seriously?" look as she answered, "I _tried _that, but I can't think of anything."

"Well," Catherine said as she sat up straighter. "What I do for your father is that I find something that he likes and then make, or buy, him something like that with my own personal spin on it. For example, this year, I got some crow feathers and dyed them deep colors and sharpened the ends. To accompany them, I painted a little pot, so he'll have some nice new pens and inkwell. Though, I'm thinking about getting him a new picture for his study."

"Well, Eugene doesn't write a lot and he doesn't have a study," Rapunzel pointed out.

"I know that, dear, it was only an example. What does Eugene like?"

"Well," Rapunzel sat up straighter and smoothed her skirts, "he likes books and me and teasing Maximus, and teasing Pascal, to a certain extent."

Catherine couldn't help but smile at her daughter's examples. "Yes, but choose something that only _you _could get him." She leaned back against her seat, Rapunzel looking at her with a confused look on her face. Her daughter thought for a moment before her eyes lit up. Scrambling to her feet, she ran and gave Catherine a quick hug before she swooped down and grabbed Pascal. Sailing out of the room, she called over her shoulder, "Thank you, Mama!"

Catherine smiled and sighed contentedly to herself. She was so good with advice.

Once inside the protective walls of her room, Rapunzel plopped Pascal onto the bed gently. The chameleon watched curiously as the princess started to pull out various materials.

"I know what to get Eugene!" Rapunzel could help but squeal to Pascal. He smiled back and watched as she went to work.

**There, a short but sweet chapter. Can anyone guess what the present is? Leave your answers in your reviews!**


	5. Motherly Advice Part 2

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. Y'all's response to my new story, Memories, was really QUITE astounding. I left y'all speechless. Your stunned silence is very reassuring. Lol. This chapter idea is another one from my sister who came up with the last chapter's idea. Maximus is too awesome. :3**

That same day, while Rapunzel set herself to work at her little desk, down a few stories from her room was the castle stable, its roof topped off with snow. It was a large and spacious stable, full of the King's horses he used for riding and pulling carriages. But it also was home to the guards' horses, including the horse in charge, Maximus.

All the horses in the stable respected Maximus to the highest degree, for they were all royal horses and had learned to be nice to everyone. Maximus himself had the largest stable to himself, with a window that was covered with a purple curtain with a big yellow sun on it. Straw lay about his stall and a fresh basket of apples stood by for his consuming pleasure.

At this moment in time, Maximus was covered by a purple blanket (which Eugene had once called girly, to which the horse responded by spitting in his face. That kept the ex-thief from insulting him anymore) and was quietly drinking some water. His ears stood up attentively for Eugene was leaning against his stall door, pouring out his worries.

"I mean, this is her first Christmas with her family, at the castle, as a princess and with me," Eugene sighed, running a hand through his rumpled hair. Maximus neighed slightly. Sometimes, he wished that the man would get a haircut. A good one too, and chop off the bangs he was growing.

"What if I mess it up? And not the like 'mess-up-the-kitchen-with-cake-batter' mess up like Blondie and I did once, oh no, I'm talking about 'messing-up-our-entire-relationship-kind-of-mess-up!'" Eugene said all in one breath. Maximus snorted. Human love relationships must be the weirdest things if the way you feel about someone is portrayed in a gift. Maximus bent down and grabbed an apple with his teeth. He was glad he was not a human.

"You know," Eugene stood up straighter as he waved his finger around thoughtfully, "I bet if I have some kind of conversation with Blondie, I can get her to say what she wants without me asking her what she wants!"

Maximus finished chewing the apple in his mouth and swallowed, turning his head to the ex-thief. His face was like that of a picture that said a thousand words. Every single one of those words was 'no'. Maximus was a horse in whom the ex-thief admittedly confided to time to time. Maximus knew his thoughts, his feelings, and his speech patterns. If he tried to get a word out of her, he would be acting like his good friend Flynn Rider, and Maximus was smart enough to know that Rapunzel didn't like his Flynn Rider persona.

Fortunately for him, Eugene could read faces. The man sighed and ran another hand through his hair ("Cut that wig off, you moron!" Maximus couldn't help but think). His eyes darted around the stable in thought and a slow look of realization grew on his face. Maximus stopped slurping at his water and straightened up to see the ex-thief smiling at him.

"Maximus, you are right! I'll ask the Queen what Rapunzel would want! She is her mother, after all!" He reached out and rumpled up Maximus' mane happily. "You're very good." Without another word, Eugene ran humming out of the stables and into the blizzard that was forming, leaving behind a puzzled Maximus.

The horse shrugged after a moment and went back to his eating. He did wish that Eugene would get a haircut.

* * *

Not ten minutes had passed since Rapunzel had come slowly sneaking in with her pet chameleon, Pascal, asking for a bit of Christmas gift giving advice. Catherine had relayed to her a few bits of advice, and the girl had bounced out of the room as happy as a cat with a ball of yarn.

For some reason or other, Catherine could say that she honestly was not surprised when a knock came on her family parlor door.

She placed the angel she had been rearranging on the white mantle back down on the rough white surface and yelled, "Come in!"

She heard the door slowly creak behind her as it slid across the floor boards, landing against the wall with a thud. A pair of feet quietly walked across the floor, almost timidly, and a voice she knew like the back of her hand called out, "Your, highness?"

"Yes, Eugene? Boy, sit down," Catherine unpinned a ribbon and set it down lower on the fireplace, waving her hand to the loveseat by the fire. Eugene gave her a nod (though she couldn't see it, he had no idea why he did it), and crossed the room and sat down.

"Now," Catherine started once he was settled, "what is it that you want to know?"

The ex-thief sat back and sighed deeply before saying, "Well, I was wondering, your highness, if you had any idea what Rapunzel would want for Christmas."

Catherine could have laughed at them both being so worried. Of course, her well-meaning laughter would only put Eugene at less ease than he was already at, so she didn't laugh. She did, however, smile at his words.

"Well, what do you think she would want?" Catherine wondered.

Eugene fumbled as he ran his hand through his unruly hair. "Well, I don't know. I DID come to you for a reason..."

"Well," said Catherine as she patted down an angel's halo that was bending at an odd angle stubbornly, "first off, what does she like?"

The quiet air left in the room save for the fire made Catherine scoff. She turned to him with a surprised and teasing smile. "Surely you know what she likes!"

He sat up straighter as he replied, "Well, she likes me, obviously, and Pascal and Maximus, I think that darn horse wants me to do something with my hair, which is weird because I think my hair looks fine. Does my hair look fine?"

"You're getting off topic."

"Um, yes, sorry. Well, there's you and the King, the castle..."

"Eugene," Catherine waved her hands in the air as she crossed the scarlet carpet. Eugene gulped as she sat down on her armchair and said, "Those things are good and well, but I am talking about the usual material items one usually gives one for Christmas."

"Oh, yes. Well, there's dresses and flowers and painting and guitars and jewelry and hairbrushes..."

"See?" Catherine asked brightly.

Eugene slowly shook his head. "No, I do not see."

Catherine rolled her eyes slightly before saying, "You know what she likes!"

"And?"

Catherine snorted slightly like Maximus and sighed. Men were sometimes very dense. "Get her one of those things!"

"But, your highness, she already has all those things! What could I get her that would be different from them?" Eugene wondered.

Catherine's voice grew gentler as she answered, "No, Eugene, don't get her anything _different. _Get her something that is _like _something _she _likes." When he only gave her a confused look, she said softly, "Give her something from your heart. The thing with love, Eugene, is that it doesn't matter how you present yourself or something that looks good in appearance, what matters in the thought and caring you show that wins her heart. Trust me," the Queen of Corona sighed. "It always works."

Eugene had looked puzzled as she had began, but his head slowly started to nod up and down, his eyebrows narrowing in thought as he processed what he heard.

The Queen fell silent and the two looked into the fire for a moment before Eugene snapped his fingers together sharply and whispered faintly, "Yes."

"Have an idea now, Eugene?" Catherine wondered, a smile pulling at her lips.

"Yes," said Eugene as he stood up, "I think I do." He walked the length of the room and slowly opened the door a crack. Before he left, he turned back to the Queen and said, "Your highness, thank you."

"It was my pleasure, Eugene," Catherine smiled.

The door slowly closed.

Catherine sighed and leaned back against the back of the chair happily, her thoughts and mind at ease.

It did, however, surprise her when her husband came galloping into the room and asked, "Catherine, dear, what do you think I should get Rapunzel for Christmas?"

Catherine sighed as a headache came on. This was beginning to become routine.

**Another short but sweet chapter. I'd love to hear what y'all think about this, please leave a review!**


	6. Exhilarating

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. Oh my gosh, people, IT'S TWO WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS EVE! Please tell me that I am not the only one freaking out over this very major holiday. At the Disney Store on Thursday, I got a plush Perry the Platypus (and now every time I can't find him, I can go, "Hey, where's Perry?") AND I got Tiana and her clothes. *Shrieks* Now I just want Belle and Ariel with their clothes and then I'm done. Phew. I came up with this chapter idea. It was me, just lil me!  
**

Rapunzel wanted to do many things her first winter out of her tower. She wanted to throw snowballs and make snow forts and snow angels (check, check, and check!) She wanted to make holiday cookies and sing Christmas songs outside in the blissful cold. She wanted to do all this things, but there was something else she wanted to do.

Go ice skating.

She really didn't have any idea what it was. Rapunzel had been talking a walk around the woods with Eugene and Pascal one cold winter's afternoon when they had come across a pond. The surface of the water had become frozen once winter had come upon it, and it was hard as a rock.

On the glimmering top of the pond, people were racing about and chasing each other on it. Other people were sitting on the snowy banks, tying on strange looking shoes with shining blades and others were tripping over their own feet as they clumsily made their way around.

Rapunzel, her arm clasped tightly around Eugene's forearm, pointed to the pond and asked eagerly, "Eugene, what are they doing?"

Eugene placed a hand over hers that was on his arm and looked over at the laughing people. "Why," he said, "they're ice skating."

Rapunzel turned her gaze over to him and asked, "What exactly _is _ice skating?"

Eugene chuckled softly. "Well, when winter comes and the top of the water turns solid, people put on special shoes and go skating."

"Why are the shoes like? How do they not fall? Does it hurt? Do you think that I would be bad at it?" she asked eagerly.

"I'll tell you later," was all that he said.

Now, it was time. The two of them had nothing to do that particular afternoon. The snow had decided to be nice and stop falling from the heavens for one afternoon. Pascal was dozing off on his little bed in her bedroom and her parents were busy having a small discussion with their council. No one would miss them going out for an hour or two.

There was another reason, of course.

Rapunzel had been scouting about in one of the large hall closets, searching for a bit of tissue paper or something to wrap Pascal's Christmas present in. This year, she was getting him a little blanket for his bed that was rainbow colored.

While searching through the many packages and bags and boxes, Rapunzel took down a small box that was the size of a shoe box. Sitting down on the marble floor, she tossed off the lid and threw back the tissue paper, now not really interested in the material. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she carefully took out some funny looking shoes. The shoes were brown and had laces running through the little holes in the sides of them. What interested Rapunzel, however, was the small strips of metal blades on the bottom. She tentatively ran a finger on the side of the blade, careful to not touch the bottom.

Without a thought of hesitation, she stretched out right there on the ground and kicked off the slippers that she was wearing. With a grunt, she pulled on the first skate. To her surprise, it wasn't a bad fit. It needed a little more tugging since it was a tad bit too small, but other than that, Rapunzel was easily able to slip both of the skates on. She tied their laces into delicate bows and smiled happily.

Rapunzel reached up and closed the door to the closet, shoving what she had taken out back into the closet. Once it was closed, she used the doorknob as a support as she slowly eased herself up. A gasp escaped her as her feet nearly buckled out from under her. She leaned against the door and used her other hand to balance herself as she slowly became still.

With a giggle, she carefully used the walls as something like a crutch as she made her way to Eugene's room. Unfortunately, for her, Rapunzel didn't see the big scratches she was making in the marble floor.

She slipped through his bedroom door sneakily. He had a fireplace with a roaring fire in it, and Rapunzel could tell that he was in his seat by the fire do to the tuft of brown hair that sticking out over the top of the chair he was sitting in.

Rapunzel carefully walked to his chair and plastered her back against it. She could feel him as he shifted around.

"Oh, Eugene," she said a sing-songy voice. She jumped out to his side and looked at his face, searching for his look of surprise.

His face didn't look surprised, however. In his hands was a newspaper, and that meant only one thing. Perched on his nose and hanging onto his ears was Eugene's reading glasses.

Rapunzel never really got used to his glasses. For some reason or other, they always made her giggle. They were good glasses, classic and brown, but somehow, when they were on Eugene's face, it made him look...funny to her.

She put a hand up to her mouth to cut herself off but she couldn't help but let out a giggle at him. He could only look at her, newspaper still in his hand as he asked, "What?"

"Oh," she said as she clasped her hands behind her back and started to sway back and forth, "nothing."

He looked at her for a moment, his eyes narrowing through the glass of his spectacles. With a shrug, he turned back to his Coronaian newspaper. Rapunzel finally calmed herself down and looked over his shoulder at the paper. Ahh, nothing but news about the snow finally clearing up. A perfect foil for her question.

"Huh, the snow is clearing up?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yep," Eugene answered as he flipped the page.

"Do you want to go outside and do something?" Rapunzel said, waving her hands around in the air above her in excitement.

He put down his newspaper and looked at her. He folded the paper on his lap and took off his reading glasses, taking a moment to massage his temples before he turned back to Rapunzel and replied, "Okay. What do you want to do?"

Rapunzel giggled and tentatively raised up one of her feet. He looked at her with an odd look before his eyes went down to her petite feet in the skates. His eyes widened as he asked, "Were you seriously walking around the castle with skates on your feet?"

"Well, yes," Rapunzel replied slowly.

Eugene could only groan.

After hurriedly slapping on their hats and coats and boots and scarfs and mittens and finding Eugene a pair of skates, the two hurried out of doors, Rapunzel now wearing her heavy boots. The two quickened their step as they made their way through the crowded village square and across the old bridge into the woods.

After a few minutes on the path, Eugene led them down a smaller path which ran by the pond. He led them to a vacant log, Rapunzel holding his hand as she watched the other teens and young people skating around expertly.

Eugene motioned for her to sit down and he watched her as he put his own skates on so that she wouldn't put them on the wrong way. She, however, did a fine job, and after a few minutes of tying, he unsteadily stood up and held out his hand. Rapunzel took hold of her skirt with one hand as she gripped his wrist tightly.

She cautiously took a step on the glimmering ice and quickly slipped. Eugene grunted and grasped her other hand, which let go of her skirt.

"Careful, Blondie," he said gently, "let me show you how." Rapunzel nodded and he carefully let go of her right hand. She slowly stood straighter as her balance came back to her on the ice. Her blade became straighter and stood up more on the smooth surface.

Without a word, he carefully let her swing to his side so that they were right next to each other. He reached behind her shoulder and grasped her right hand so that he had her balanced. Rapunzel smiled as he carefully took the first few steps, holding her hands tightly. She tried to mimic him as they went a few feet, but her skates each turned every which way they weren't supposed to go.

"Sorry," Rapunzel groaned softly as he held her up so that she could straight.

"Sshhh," he whispered just as softly, "don't be."

His words made her face turn even pink than it had been because of the cold. With a much needed spring in her step, Rapunzel listened to him as he quietly told her what to do. He led them around the edge of the pond, avoiding the rocks and frozen waves that stood out.

The both of them moving together, their feet sometimes getting in each other's way; neither of them minded. They didn't speak at all during their skating; each other's breathing was too beautiful to want to cover up. They heard only each other, the people around them's talking and laughing and chatter was blocked out so that it seemed like it was only them together, alone together.

Once they had made their way twice around the pond, Rapunzel couldn't help but gasp when Eugene slowly let go of her hands. She flailed her hands about in the chilly air, and came to a stop. Waving her hands around like a chicken trying to fly, Rapunzel suddenly realized that she didn't need him to keep her from falling. She slowly let her hands stop moving and stood up. Eugene smiled at her and started to twirl around the pond, as graceful as a girl.

Rapunzel, with a wicked sort of smile, raced after him. In her attempts to catch him, however, she fell to the ice a couple of times, but that didn't get her down. She just dusted herself up and went after him again.

She chased him all around the pond, dodging and surpassing various other skaters. Though she was fast, Eugene was faster. He always managed to stay ahead of her.

With a gasp, Rapunzel halted herself so that she could catch her breath. She sighed and let the cold, blistering air come and burn her overheated lungs. Looking about the other skaters, she saw her boyfriend on the other side of the pond. At the moment, that was okay with her.

She bent down to examine her skates. She hadn't banged them up too much, that was good, but her feet were starting to get blisters on them. She winced and promised herself that she wouldn't skate so hard.

The promise was broken, however, (so unlike Rapunzel to break a promise), when she looked up to see all the young couple twirling about. The little children in their skates giggled and laughed on the banks of the snow as they watched them twirl and dance.

With a laugh, Rapunzel skated over to them and joined them. She easily slipped in and caught another teen's hand and off they went. The group of people skated about, their moves smooth and quick and the changing of partners as fast as the wind.

Rapunzel enjoyed herself immensely. The cold wind that flew pass her face felt so refreshing as the heat built up in her cheeks. But, even though she was enjoying herself, she couldn't help but wonder where Eugene was. Surely he hadn't gone and sat on the bank and watched!

Rapunzel smiled and skated smoothly as the energy from the group escalated. This was it. The great, big finish. Rapunzel drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes and twirled. She felt her hands being clasped between two bigger, rougher ones, hands she recognized. She opened her eyes to see Eugene smiling down at her. He slowly leaned his head down and their foreheads met. For just a moment, while everyone released other's hands and cheered, they stood there, quietly looking into each other's eyes.

Eugene smiled down at her, and she returned it to him. He let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and the two skated off of the pond.

Reaching the bank, Rapunzel walked clumsily the few feet to the log and clambered down on it. They both took off their skates, Rapunzel reaching down and rubbing her pain filled ankles.

"Blisters?" Eugene asked.

She merely nodded.

Eugene smiled. "I have an answer for that."

When they went back to the castle, Catherine had a big scolding ready for her daughter for running off and leaving big dents in the hallway floor. However, the words died in her throat when she saw Eugene carrying a sleeping Rapunzel in his arms. She merely gave him a nod as he turned the corner.

**That was so cute! There is a link to a picture of Eugene in his reading glasses made by my near and very dear friend, brightandwild, on my profile. Please check out her stories and her gallery on deviantart! I hope y'all like, and PLEASE, as a Christmas gift, please leave a review!**


	7. Deck the Walls With Lots of Candy

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. This story idea came from my sister, because it's a cute idea, but I added the Pascal part, because it seemed to be something that Pascal would do. Only ten days until Christmas and less than a month until Tangled Ever After! *Does happy dance***

Rapunzel was stoked. Rapunzel was happy. Rapunzel was overly giddy and drastically excited, well, at least, that was what her father said. Of course he said this affectionately, but his words still retained meaning: Rapunzel was thrilled.

Over a good reason, of course. It was twelve days until Christmas and Mama decided that today was a very good day to make a gingerbread house. A few days ago, she had informed Rapunzel that Atilla was ready to make gingerbread for the house. With a leap in her heart, Rapunzel fell to her desk and drew out a plan. Pascal watched over her shoulder as she added measurements, approximations for the amount of frosting they would need and a count of the candies. On her village walks with her mother, Eugene and Pascal, Rapunzel had seen a great big gingerbread village in the window of the baker's shop.

There was six little houses squished together, three on each side of a tall rendition of the palace. It glistened with white icing and sugar snowflakes hanging from the ceiling of the display. A shaking of powdered sugar had added a snow-like feel and there was little people made out of candy walking around the gingerbread village. Catherine and Eugene had had to both grab her arms and yank her away from the store window in order to get her home.

This gingerbread building, Rapunzel decided, was going to be even bigger and better than the one in the store window. Of course, if it just looked good, Rapunzel would be alright with it, but she hoped for it to be grand. This was her first Christmas with her family (and Eugene) and she wanted this little part of Christmas to be special.

Rapunzel made a list of things needed on another piece of paper and with a gleam in her eye, dashed downstairs to Atilla, plans flapping in her hands. Pascal held on for dear life as she flew down the stairs into the kitchen. It was around eight o'clock at night, and all the staff had cleaned, scrubbed and practically disinfected the entire kitchen space before going home.

There was one figure, however, Atilla, who was walking around the kitchen with a bunch of bowls in his hands. Rapunzel raced over to him and grabbed some of the little ones on the top, revealing his helmet covered face.

"Hi, Atilla!" said Rapunzel brightly. She turned for him to see the plans clasped against the bowls. "I brought some sketches and designs."

"Good, good, your highness," the thug said as they walked over to the largest counter. With a loud series of bangs, they set the wooden bowls down on the counter. Rapunzel hastily laid out her plans on the counter space, patting them flat.

Atilla looked over her shoulder and under his helmet his eyes widened. Rapunzel's plans were huge, and when I say huge, I mean we're talking about having the gingerbread 'house' the size of a small chair.

"You see, Atilla? It'll have a sound structural system and walls and windows, trimmed with candy. And, and," she pointed out excitedly, "a large doorway. It'll have a small opening leading up to the bedrooms, and the roof will be flat and have toppers, only, there'll be more than one roof."

Atilla could only stare in disbelief and stutter, "W-why is it so big?"

"Why," beamed Rapunzel as she pointed to her shoulder where a grinning Pascal sat, "it's a house for Pascal!"

Atilla could have fainted.

"I already have a name for it, Chameleon Castle. Doesn't that have the loveliest ring to it?" Rapunzel asked excitedly. Atilla could barely get a word in as Pascal jumped off of Rapunzel's shoulder for the safety of the counter as the princess darted to one of the vast pantries.

"After all, we're not going to eat it, it's only a decoration, or, at least, that was what Eugene said. Well, where...ah! Ginger root! I'd say we'd need about a pound of that, and oh! I need that bag of sugar!"

Atilla and Pascal exchanged a look before the thug ran into the pantry after her. Rapunzel was climbing the shelves like they were trees.

"Your highness!" he yelled, alarmed. Rapunzel turned to him, her hand hanging onto the shelf and said nonchalantly, "Yes, Atilla?"

The baker sighed and only said, "Let me get the ingredients."

Before long, the counter was covered in an array of ingredients. Flour was being scooped into big bowls out of the wooden barrels and the sugar was gently trickling onto the floor from the hole in the bag. Rapunzel was set to work sketching the measurements on pieces of thin paper, busily humming to herself.

Pascal watched from the top of a cookie jar, occasionally moving the lid and sneaking in a treat. The jar was very full this time of year.

After several large bowls full of brown dough, Atilla rolling nearly twenty different sheets of gingerbread which Rapunzel cut in the right shape and three hours, the kitchen was thoroughly perfumed with gingerbread. All along the long counter was sheets of the hardening cookie.

Atilla had managed to keep himself and his white apron tidy, but Pascal had fallen (with a very loud squeal) into a bowl of flour used for dusting the sticky dough and Rapunzel was covered in white and brown and for some reason, she had a bit of bright green something on her cheek.

Rapunzel quickly did the dishes (which she did very fast. You learn to do things fast in a tower) and Atilla swept up the crumbs. Pascal, still colored white, raced across the counter tops on a wet rag, skillfully skating around the cooling cookie and wiping up the crumbs that were scattered about.

"Well," Atilla breathed as he and Rapunzel leaned against the cupboards and drawers sticking haphazardly out of the counters' sides. "Now, your highness, we'll have to wait for two days for this all to dry and became hard enough to be walls."

Rapunzel nodded sleepily, and if Atilla hadn't asked the question, he would have guessed that she was sleeping and not answering. Without a word, Rapunzel walked, half-asleep, to Pascal and let him walk up her shoulder. Yawning loudly, she walked over to the door to the hall and said, "Good night, Atilla." As soon as she closed the door, the small clock overhead gonged, telling Atilla and the smoldering fire that it was midnight and bedtime.

That had been a couple of days before. Now, Rapunzel was bustling about the kitchen, eager to find an apron that fitted her slim body. Pascal watched and helped sort through the little selection they had while he managed to tie on the little apron Rapunzel had made him. He was a regular customer at Rapunzel's sewing desk.

Fitting on an apron three sizes too big, Rapunzel scurried out of the pantry and over to Atilla, who had taken the liberty of making the time consuming white icing. He was leaning over a very large bowl, filled with stiff paste.

"Is it time, Atilla?" Rapunzel asked eagerly, her green eyes alight with excitement and Pascal bouncing excitedly on her shoulders. The thug nodded, and Rapunzel, with a giggle, ran over to the shelf in which the large sheets of cookie had been sitting. She grabbed a sheet and placed it on the large counter.

Atilla helped her and by the time the clock over the door struck seven in the morning (Rapunzel had gotten up extra early for this project), the other cooks and helpers were filing in to start on the royals' breakfast. The girl cooks smiled at the princess as they started getting out bowls and spoons and knives on their side of the kitchen.

Both sides were very quiet, save the sounds of the fire and utensils. Rapunzel laid out her plans once again and she and Atilla fell to examining and retrieving items.

On one side of the counter, they placed a large wooden board set for the castle. Atilla set Rapunzel to work making clever little bags out of the thin paper he had on hand. Taking one from the pile she had made, he cut off the tip with a knife and filled it carefully with the sticky glue.

Atilla took two of the boards made out of dough, each about one foot and a half long and one foot wide, and handed them to Rapunzel, who held them up together. Atilla piped icing in between the crack as mortar, and Rapunzel smooshed them together.

"Hold them until they dry," he said nonchalantly as he started to fill another bag.

"How long will it take?" Rapunzel asked.

"About a half hour or so, your highness," he answered back as causally as he could. Rapunzel only groaned at his answer.

Atilla put up another two walls that were the same size as the others, and this time enlisted the help of Pascal to hold them up. After all, Rapunzel had said that this gingerbread wasn't for eating. The little chameleon groaned and heaved as he held them together.

While they held them up, Atilla set to work making a paste made out of almonds and sugar. Once cool, he started to break out a little set of bottles out of his belt. Rapunzel watched with interest as he added a drop or two of the stuff from the bottles into the little mounds of paste he had made.

"What are you making?" Rapunzel wondered, her arms growing stiff from holding the walls up.

"Colored marzipan. It's a sugar dough we can use to make little people," Atilla explained patiently, his fat hands churning the balls of paste.

"Cool!" Rapunzel said, her hands immediately drawn to herself as she looked. She suddenly realized what she was doing and she hurriedly caught the walls before they crashed into the board. Fortunately for Rapunzel, they had hardened and while not attached to the base, they were connected to each other.

Once all the colors had been mixed, Rapunzel and Atilla went to work setting up the walls. Pascal had been relieved of his duty (over which he was happy) and they decided to prop crocks and jars against the walls to hold them up (over which Rapunzel was happy).

Once the main walls, which was in a rectangle shape, were done, Atilla and Rapunzel added another smaller rectangle to one of the large sides, making the entrance. More walls were added to the inside of the main floor to make little rooms. After a quick inspection for any windows or doors that were missing, Rapunzel added a small pillow and a large cookie inside for Pascal to enjoy (Atilla had to hold back the starving and eager chameleon while she did so).

Once done, Rapunzel and Atilla were about to do one of the many big lifts and place a huge sheet of cookie over it for the ceiling when the cooks next to them called over, "Your highness, it is time for breakfast!" Rapunzel looked over to the clock and saw that it was nearly nine.

With a sigh, she and Pascal took off their aprons and laid it on the counter. She fluffed her hair as Pascal crawled back onto her shoulder and walked to the door, turning to Atilla and saying, "I'll be back in a half hour!" The thug nodded and gave her a little wave, which she returned as she closed the door.

After a quick breakfast, which Rapunzel scarfed down like an animal and Pascal shoved food in his mouth using his paws (they both earned weird and slightly concerned looks from the Queen, King and ex-thief), Rapunzel and pet raced back into the kitchen.

Rapunzel once again donned the apron (Pascal did not do to the fact he thought himself to look silly in it) and said, "Ready, Atilla?" The thug nodded and together they each grabbed two corners of the sheet. With a "Lift!" they hurriedly (and as gently as they could) placed the sheet on the walls.

"Is it on, Atilla?" Rapunzel asked, looking over to the baker.

Atilla sighed and said, "Sorry, your highness, I forgot to pipe on the frosting to hold it on the walls." Rapunzel smiled and shrugged her shoulders as she replied, "That's okay!" And they took it off. After the addition of glue, they once again attempted to put on the heavy cookie.

Rapunzel groaned and as carefully as she could, slid her fingers out from under it as quick as she could. Atilla did the same, and at once they heard a crack!

"What was that?" Rapunzel hurriedly and worriedly asked, her eyes and voice filled with concern.

Atilla sighed once again and pointed to the middle of the ceiling. Near the center there was a long and fresh crevice, about as long as a pencil and as wide as a fork. It wasn't straight at all; it took little twists and turns and bends along the cookie.

Rapunzel propped her hand on her hands and said dismally, "Well, that's comforting."

"No, no, no, your highness," Atilla quickly said, "I have an idea. We can put something, like a...crock, into the gingerbread house and use it to hold up the part that's cracked. Nobody will be able to see it because it will be inside!"

Rapunzel thought about that for a moment as she absentmindedly twisted her finger in her short brown hair. She nodded in response and tried to take her finger out, only to have to yank and twist it around to get her hair off of it.

Together they were able to support the broken crack and all three of them went to work. A second floor was added, (two of the walls each had a slight crack and one had a broken corner but nothing too horrible) and then a ceiling to that and a third floor to the main walls. The entrance was only two feet high, and had a roof that slanted and the back was against the front wall of the castle.

A total of four floors was put up. Rapunzel and Atilla together made four towers, each four feet high. Each little floor was made out of flour little squares and a ceiling.

Rapunzel's apron showed how hard she worked. She often sat on her knees on the counter, carefully reaching over to squirt icing where Atilla couldn't reach. Pascal and his little weapon, a silver spoon, stood precariously on the edge of the wooden bowl, constantly stirring the icing to keep it from getting hard.

Atilla dabbed frosting all over the wooden board, making it a creamy white. Once Rapunzel was done gluing and the pieces were dry, she and Atilla set about making little people out of the sticky almond mixture.

Atilla started to roll out a blob of brown for hair as Rapunzel pinched and poked at a ball of a white-tan color.

"Hmm, I have his mouth down, and his pretty brown eyes, but what about his nose?" Rapunzel wondered as she scrutinized the face she was working on. At that moment, Eugene walked in casually and over to her counter. Leaning an arm against the counter, he let out a low whistle at the progress they had made.

"Wow, Blondie. That's..." was all that he could say.

"Huge?" Rapunzel giggled. "I know. It's a castle for Pascal!"

"What? Why does the frog get the cool manor?" Eugene asked, stooping down with his hands on his knees to get a better look.

"Chameleon, Eugene, and stop using the nuance comeback," Rapunzel warned. Sitting on the counter precariously, she furthermore leaned down and stared at his face as if to memorize his features.

Eugene couldn't help but feel somewhat worried at being watched like that and he asked as he looked up at her studious face, "What are you doing?"

"I remaking your face in sugar," Rapunzel replied casually as she dented his features with a butter knife.

"Should I be slightly worried?" he wondered, screwing his nose.

Rapunzel sighed and giggled, "Put your nose in a regular position. I'm sculpting it."

Eugene decided that this was not the time to ask questions and he merely held still until she turned back to the castle and he ran out the door.

Together, Atilla and Rapunzel and even Pascal helped in making the figures. All were softy, squishy and fat, but it was fun to make them. Hook Hand's hook hand fell off repeatedly, and the Queen's crown had to be remade at least three times, and Pascal lost a squishy leg somewhere in the process.

Rapunzel rolled limbs and Atilla squished torsos into shape and Pascal rolled heads, making two at a time with his paws.

Soon a little line of people (and Maximus and Pascal and Waldo, the warthog, and Milton, the goat) sat in a line across the length of the counter. Rapunzel washed her hands of the sticky rainbow of sweaty dough she had collected off of her palms and helped roll more paper into little cones.

When the clock struck eleven, the Queen waltzed into the kitchen, peering around for her daughter. Her lace-lined full size cloak trailed on the floor as she walked over to Rapunzel. Laying a hand on the counter, she looked up to see the tall gingerbread house.

Her first question: "How is it staying up?"

Rapunzel wiped a bit of hair out of her face as she added another paper cone to the growing pile. "The frosting we're using is hardening."

Catherine looked the gingerbread castle over as she walked around the counter. "Well, I, I suppose it would work for a smaller one. I guess it can work for something on a much larger scale."

Rapunzel threw up her hands excitedly, "Exactly!"

Catherine smiled at her daughter and turned to Atilla, who shrugged. She knew how persuasive her daughter could be, especially with the soft-hearted and kind thugs. Rapunzel had easily been able to persuade the man into making a huge structure and not a regular little house.

"Pushover," Catherine laughed, giving Atilla a poke to his arm. He turned to her, shook his head wonderingly and turned back to his work. Catherine turned back to Rapunzel and said, "Well, Rapunzel, your father and I are going to a luncheon at Lord Farthworthy's house. You were invited as well, of course, but I informed them that you would be quite busy, was I right?"

"Oh, yes!" Rapunzel squealed. She waved a hand at her mother and said, "Go on and try to have fun, though I know you'll have a hard time with Lord Farthworthy. The man thinks the world of his boring stories!"

"Rapunzel," the Queen said in a knowing voice, for she knew her daughter was right. If she had to hear the story of how Lord Farthworthy had killed three adult size bears on the first day of spring one more time, she might grab William's collar and drag him back to the carriage.

"Alright," Rapunzel giggled as she rolled her eyes. "Have fun!"

"Alright then," Catherine smiled, bobbing a quick curtsy to her girl and walked slowly out the door, her voice being heard out in the hall, "William!"

Rapunzel smiled at the closed door and turned back to her work. She and Atilla started to pipe clean white lines over the mortared wall cracks, Pascal silently licking the little drops that fell from her bag. She shot him a look, which he returned with a sugary sweet grin.

The piping was a great delight to Rapunzel. She was usually a girl who never stayed inside the straight and narrow lines, but this was a particular exception. It was just fun to her to fill in the cracks with the smooth glue, wiping away the blemishes by replacing them with whiteness.

The task took them nearly an hour, for Pascal upset a bag of candy and Rapunzel had to kneel on the floor and pick up each one, for the servants were busy cooking. They could have helped her, of course, but she did feel a personal responsibility over the little chameleon, who at the moment was doing more harm than good.

The brown clock over the door struck twelve, telling them that it was time to fill their stomachs once again. A servant had informed Rapunzel that Eugene had headed out with Maximus for a ride and would stop at a pub, probably. Rapunzel could only imagine what pub he would possibly go to.

Seeing how her parents and boyfriend were out and about, Rapunzel set to work employing herself and Pascal into making lunch. They retrieved a thick loaf of bread and cut rather uneven slices, for Rapunzel had chosen the thinnest and longest knife in the castle's inventory. Pascal dabbed mustard out of a jar with a butter knife onto the slices while Rapunzel added huge hunks of cheese and pork slices, cut rather haphazardly from the loin.

With a gleam in her eye, she buttered more slices of bread and placed one over each slice and gave each a satisfying squish with her hand. The mustard squeezed slightly out the sides and the pork started to poke out.

Rapunzel wrapped a napkin around the three large sandwiches and trotted over to Atilla and said, "Here's your lunch!" The thug simply took the sandwich and nodded a simply thank you. Rapunzel nodded to him in a similar fashion of saying, "You're welcome."

Rapunzel placed the other sandwich on the counter and unwrapped the napkin. Pascal rubbed his hands together eagerly and his mouth watered as her hands backed away from his food. Even if he _did _snack a lot that morning on candy, it would never do to turn down a product of the princess' fine hand! Pascal seized the sandwich with his paws and held the sandwich down as he torn off pieces and ate them nosily.

Rapunzel rolled her eyes at his cuteness and started to get back to work, single-handedly.

But even the impairment which was that of a messy sandwich could not decelerate the speed that Atilla and Rapunzel were working.

Rapunzel and Atilla covered the white frosting on the board with sugar, making it sparkle and look like crystally snow. After that, they poured all the candy into large bowls and filled the paper cones with different colored frosting and Rapunzel arranged them according to their color. Pascal lay lazily on his white napkin, snuggling under the white folds. He gave a little burp combined with a hiccup and covered his mouth hurriedly.

Rapunzel laughed at him good-naturedly and rubbed her hands together.

Let the fun part begin.

With a laugh, Rapunzel and Atilla each grabbed a bag and set to work. Rapunzel attacked a tower with the bag, squirting it bottom to top with red frosting. Grabbing a spatula, she happily smoothed all the frosting evenly all around the walls of the tower until the entire thing was covered.

She did the same thing to the other three towers, getting little bits of icing on her little hands.

Atilla, being a professional and not a hyperactive princess, was slow and methodical in his ways. He went after the walls of the castle, making the walls a creamy green. Every so often, he'd lean and look over at Pascal, as if to study the chameleon.

Once done, Rapunzel grabbed the black frosting and covered the main roof, which was flat and in need of color.

Frosting time over, the two fell upon using the candies. Candy canes lined the bottoms of the walls and the door frame. Little sugar cookies were attached with frosting next to the windows to represent shutters. Boiled candy balls rolled in granulated sugar lined the tops of the towers, adding more color to the castle.

Rapunzel made little green Christmas trees out of marzipan that had little brown cookies for trucks. Rapunzel made little dots of multi-colored marzipan and added them as ornaments for the trees, who were placed in all the little corners around the castle walls.

Strings of candy lined the paths that were paved with shredded coconut that Atilla had cut and dried himself. Atilla piped on green wreathes over each window and the door while Rapunzel made a back pathway out of chocolate. All the little candy figures were added, adding to the royal atmosphere.

Wiping her brow, Rapunzel turned to Atilla, who put a tray of the final touches on the counter. On the wooden tray was five cupcakes, one way bigger than the others. With great gusto, they each placed a cupcake on the top of each tower, and then Rapunzel turned and stooped over to Pascal.

"Hey, Pascal, do you want to add the last cupcake to your castle?" Rapunzel wondered. The chameleon nodded eagerly and she held him in her hands as he grasped the largest cupcake. She lifted him up, him supporting the heavy weight of the cupcake. He grunted as she held him up to the cupcake pedestal on the top of the otherwise smooth roof.

With another grunt, Pascal placed the cupcake on its place, finishing the castle.

Rapunzel set him down and clapped and jumped up and down excitedly as she squealed, "Atilla, Pascal, it's done! It's done!" Atilla beamed (though no one could see him do so) and Pascal clapped excitedly, bouncing up and down.

"Well, Pascal," Rapunzel said happily as she managed to calm herself down, "go in and check it out!" Pascal nodded and the princess and baker watched as he slowly made his way across the counter. He tentatively placed a paw on the coconut and discovered that it wasn't as sticky as he thought it would be.

He shrugged and crossed the path, taking a moment to examine the figures standing in line on his right. The King and Queen were next to each other and the other couple was holding hands, Pascal on Rapunzel's shoulder and Maximus giving Eugene a puzzled look.

He smirked at the accurateness and went inside the castle. The corridor was a bit narrow, but he could easily make his way through. He squirted in the darkness and saw that there was four rooms and a wide opening in the ceiling for him to crawl into the next floor.

Pascal was able to walk into each of the rooms and give them a nod of approval. He slowly made his way back to the door and stuck out his thumb for Rapunzel and Atilla to see, right side up.

"He likes it! He likes it!" Rapunzel squealed excitedly, grabbing the thug's shirt in excitement and shaking him, causing him to rattle. "Atilla, he likes it!" With a gasp, she let go of him, letting him catch his breath, and shouted, "I have to go get Eugene! He's bound to be back by now!" She raced out the door, calling loudly, "Eugene! EUGENE!"

Atilla simply shrugged and started to clean up the mess they had made.

Pascal crawled into the hole in the ceiling into the second floor. Even though there was a few windows, this place was dark! I mean, he could barely see anything. He sighed and made his way through the floor, hopeful to avoid bumping into anything. His attempt, however, was non-successful, for that minute he bonked his head into a wall.

He backed away and rubbed his hand, snarling in the direction of the wall, for he was now not quite sure where it was anymore. He picked up his little green paws as he continued on his way, only to crash into another wall.

He swiped at the wall, hoping to at least make a dent in the thing, but he missed. Pascal stood up on his two hind legs and angrily stomped to the nearest window, bumping into another wall. Upon reaching the hole-in-the-wall, he promptly hooked his teeth on it and took a large chunk out of it. Immediately, light flooded in. Pascal sighed. He didn't want to ruin the work Rapunzel and the baker had spent so much time on, but he needed to see!

Rapunzel came back, dragging a fumbling Eugene by the hand. Halting them both beside the castle, she stretched out her arms and shouted, "I give you, Chameleon Castle!"

Eugene stooped down to the counter and admired it for a moment before a look crossed his face. He looked closer and pointed to a second floor window, "Wait, I thought you said that we weren't supposed to eat this thing."

"I did say that!" Rapunzel quickly answered. A worried look on her face, she stooped down next to him and looked where he was pointing. Along the gingerbread window was bite marks, teeth marks, all along the sides and tops. Chunks of gingerbread was missing, and was that chewing inside the castle walls?

"Pascal!" Rapunzel groaned as she drew closer to the castle and peered inside through the window. She immediately spotted the sheepish chameleon hiding in the corner, trying to evade her vision.

"Pascal," she repeated as she stood up, her foot tapping rapidly, "I want you to come out!"

Eugene walked over to Atilla, and they each gave each other a confused shrug as a slow chameleon slowly made his way out of the house, his tail between his legs.

"Pascal," Rapunzel said in a maternal and firm tone, sounding like an angry mother, "why did you start eating your castle?"

Pascal instantly sighed and lifted himself to his hind legs. Facing Rapunzel, he closed his eyes and waved his hands around as if to say he was walking around blind. He continued his charade by turning yellow, which he shook his head, and then into the color known as black and closed his eyes again, bumping intentionally into the wall next to the door.

Rapunzel's facial features softened as she leaned over to him and asked softly, "You couldn't see where you were going, so you made the windows bigger so you could see the light?"

Her question made Eugene start humming, which she answered him with a look. He instantly stopped.

Pascal nodded in the affirmative, causing Rapunzel to awwww and pick him up.

"I guess we did make them a little too small for there to be much light in there, but," Rapunzel said firmly, "please don't eat anymore. The castle could collapse if you do." Pascal nodded again, completely sorry for his actions.

"Now," Rapunzel smiled as she straightened up and turned to Eugene, "what do you think?"

Eugene smiled and said, "I think it looks fine."

"Yay!" Rapunzel said as she wrapped an arm around Atilla's shoulders and gave him a squeeze. "Atilla, I think we should make another one next year, only bigger!" Atilla's eyes widened as Rapunzel squealed and grabbed Eugene's hand again and whisked them out of the kitchen, yelling, "I need to make plans!"

Atilla looked after them for a moment before turning to Pascal. They both sighed and simultaneously groaned.

**There, a nice long chapter! Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't have any more disasters! I hope you liked it, and please, leave a review!**


	8. Eat, Drink and Be Merry

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. I came up with this idea 'cause, I mean, who wouldn't want to go and sing Christmas carols with the Pub Thugs? I WANT TO GO AND SING WITH THEM! Sorry, me combined with fan-girling and because it's a week until Christmas Eve, yeah, I'm hyperactive. He he he he he.**

"Eugene!" Rapunzel called excitedly. "Hurry up!" The princess, garbed in her cloak and winter wear, was currently pacing outside next to Maximus, who was in his bells and whistles outfit. Pascal sat on his saddle, bundled in his coat and breathing in his paws to keep them warm, occasionally turning back to the castle with a look to see if the ex-thief was going to show up any time soon.

"I'm coming! Wait a minute," Eugene called. Rapunzel, Maximus and Pascal turned to each other and stifled a laugh as Pascal crawled onto Rapunzel, for Eugene did look comical jumping up and down on the snow covered yard, trying to yank on his boot.

He finally was able to pull on the boot, nearly slipping under his own feet. Stumbling to regain his balance, he walked over to the three and placed an arm around Maximus' neck for support.

"I'm here," he pointed out. Rapunzel smiled and nodded eagerly. Eugene cupped his hands together and Rapunzel gingerly stepped on them, careful to watch her balance. He lifted her up and she boarded the back of the white horse. Why get out the sleigh again when you can go riding on the coolest horse in the kingdom? And best of all, Maximus enjoyed every minute of it. It was his two favorite people and chameleon. One to pick on, one to hug and one to laugh with.

Eugene carefully boarded Maximus, wary of the fact the horse might pull something. They had an interesting relationship. Grabbing the reins, he felt Rapunzel wrap her arms around his waist and leaning her head against his shoulder. He could feel himself grow warm at her touch.

With a slight, "Giddy up!" Maximus picked up his hooves and raced on through town, Rapunzel screeching excitedly and Pascal managed to crawl on her head to hold on to her hat. Bounding through the streets and the bridge and the paths, Maximus slowed down to a trot when the oh, so familiar structure of the Snuggly Duckling came into view.

The leaning-into-a-tree pub had been decorated quite festively. Gunther had probably employed all the other thugs into helping him. All the shutters had red big and fat bows on them, as did the hitching posts. The Snuggly Duckling sign with their famous duckling on it was covered in snow so that you could only see the beak of the duckling (Rapunzel didn't know if Gunther wanted it like that or not).

The tree and roof were all covered in snow, and a wreath was placed heedfully on the front door. Boughs of holly lined the tops of the windows and the snowflakes that were delicately falling added to the Christmas atmosphere.

"Ahh, the Snuggly Duckling, quaint place, perfect for you," Eugene smiled. Pascal gave him a look.

"Yes, charming," Rapunzel laughed, and before Eugene could so much as get a word out, she leapt off of Maximus' back and raced down the snowy path to the front door. Eugene gasped and groaned as he leapt down as well. Clasping Maximus' reins, he and the horse exchanged a look before they made their way to the front door.

Rapunzel bounded inside, she and Pascal giggling, of course, and Eugene could hear many cheers of, "Your highness!" He smiled to himself and led Maximus over to where all the other horses were. He tied Maximus' reins to the hitching post and patted the horse on the back.

"See ya in a bit, Max," he said, to which Maximus smiled and then turned back to the other horses. Eugene smiled and turned and opened the front door.

He peeked his head inside; nobody seemed to notice him, for practically all of them were surrounding Rapunzel, who was eagerly wishing them season's greetings. Eugene didn't mind. He might have been a show off once in his life, but he didn't exactly like being the center of attention in a big crowd.

He merely shrugged and stepped all the way inside, closing the door behind him. Turning to the interior of the Duckling, he let out a low whistle. Gunther had gone big this year.

More big and red bows covered the railing of the stairs. The rim of the dartboard was covered with strings of popcorn and cranberries. The various candles in the room had wreaths of green around their bottoms, and there was a Christmas tree, decked out in ornaments and candles, right next to the bar.

At the fireplace, there was a stack of ready cut wood tied together in a green ribbon. The brown mantle had all but disappeared under several large and interestingly made stockings, each bearing the names of the various thugs. The barrels on the stage were painted red and green, and the piano had a big book on it, most likely full of Christmas songs.

Eugene ran a hand through his hair and when he decided not to go through the crowd to get Rapunzel and Pascal, (for they were having the best of times), he took a bar stool seat at the Snuggly Duckling's bar.

Hook Hand, after chatting away like a bird with the enthusiastic princess, noticed the ex-thief and he walked behind the counter. Stealing a rag from the pile sitting behind him, he spat on his hook and started to wipe away at it.

"So, do you like the place?" Hook Hand wondered.

Eugene nodded and said, "It looks nice. Gunther did a pretty good job."

"Yeah, and he had lots of help, me included. You don't want to know how long it took to get that there tree in here," Hook Hand said, pointing to the pine tree that was, like the tree the pub was sitting against, leaning."Can I get you a drink?"

"Oh, sure, what do ya got?" Eugene asked.

"We have coffee, eggnog, (spiked, just to let you know, make sure you don't let the princess get near it), wassail and cocoa," Hook Hand listed off the top of his one hand.

"I'll have an eggnog, then," Eugene decided. Hook Hand nodded and shouted, causing Eugene to cringe and cover his ears, "Cookie! An eggnog, over here!"

Cookie's antler topped helmet jingled when he nodded and poured a cup from the pitcher beside him. He walked through the crowd and gave it to Hook Hand before turning back to his kitchen stove. He had a big pot full of wassail he was keeping warm, and he had to keep an eye on Atilla's mint cupcakes.

"Here ya go," Hook Hand slid the mug across the counter. Eugene took a swig and wheezed. Putting down the mug, he thumped his chest, "How much brandy's in that?"

"Rum, actually," Hook Hand was quick to point out. "A lot, I guess? Cookie has his own recipe."

Eugene nodded, tears coming to his eyes. He turned when Rapunzel bounced onto the seat next to him and said excitedly, "Isn't this great, Eugene?" She quickly took notice of his drink and his screwed face and asked, "Are you going to drink that?"

Eugene quickly guided the drink closer to him. "Yes, yes I am, and don't you even try to sneak a taste!"

"Why not?" Rapunzel wondered curiously. Eugene sighed as he let out a breath. How was the best way to say this? You can't have any because you already have too much energy and the last thing I want your parents to know is that you got drunk.

"Because it's mine," he answered lamely, mentally slapping himself for not coming up with something better.

"Can I get my own?" Rapunzel asked eagerly.

"No."

Rapunzel folded her arms, "Why not?"

Eugene answered suavely, "Because you'll like the cocoa much more."

"How do you know that?" Rapunzel wondered. Her answer was supplied by Hook Hand sending a mug of cocoa her way. It landed with a thud! with another little mug following it. Pascal gasped in delight and crawled down her shoulder. He went up to the smaller mug and wrapped his hands around it, absorbing the rich heat and inhaled deeply. He let out the breath in a contented sigh and started to lap up the cocoa.

Rapunzel and Eugene watched with amusement. Rapunzel took a little sip of her drink and remarked, "Pascal's been eating a lot of sweets lately. I think I need to start watching what he eats. Hook Hand," she called over to the man, "no more cocoa for Pascal."

"He's getting fat!" Eugene yelled. Rapunzel turned to him with a scowl and said defensively, "He is not!"

"Is too!" Eugene retorted calmly as he slowly took another sip of his eggnog, now wary of the alcoholic content.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

Hook Hand, upon being bored of their never ending conversation, rolled his eyes at them and walked over to the stage. The knife he had been holding in his hand sailed across the room, missing everyone and slamming into the nerd who played the accordion, Ned. The lad nervously started to play his instrument, causing everyone to stop laughing and chatting and turn to look at him.

"I'd say, in the spirit of the Christmas season, that we should sing some Christmas carols!" Hook Hand announced. This aroused several mighty cheers from the Pub Thugs and Rapunzel, who lifted her mug into the air in a whoop. Setting it down, she squealed as she caught her skirts and ran to the stage, on which she sat on the edge, her hands clasped together.

Hook Hand took a seat on the piano stool and tested a couple of the ivory keys, hitting a few notes. He smiled his toothy smile at Rapunzel, who smiled warmly back, and reached for the old book on the piano's top. He handed it tenderly to Rapunzel and said, "Choose the first Christmas carol."

Rapunzel's smile grew bigger at the thought of Christmas carols. She had only known one her whole time at the tower, and it was just, "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear." Gothel had decided that that was the only Christmas carol that didn't reveal too much of the outside world to her little curious charge.

Now looking down at the precious hymn book, she held it gently to herself as if it was a tiny child. It was filled with wondrous songs she had never known, so many that she had no idea how'd she choose. She decided to just flip through it and pick one that sounded nice to her.

Rapunzel carefully picked through the worn and tattered pages. This must have been at the Snuggly Duckling a long time. She finally spied one that seemed to be especially interesting. True love was involved.

Keeping the pages open, she handed it to Hook Hand, who nodded and smiled at her choice. Balancing the book, he lifted up his hands and brought them down with show, breaking into skillfully played music. The other thugs and Eugene recognized the tune immediately as Hook Hand started them off, "_On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me!_"

The Pub Thugs, arms wrapped around each others' shoulders in good spirit, sang, "_A partridge in a pear tree!_" Eugene sat back in his chair and sipped his drink, smiling at his princess who was looking over Hook Hand's shoulder and singing along as well. Pascal, having drunk all of his cocoa, stood up and started to clap along to the music.

As they sang along, Rapunzel could hardly sing from the smile on her face. She kept glancing from the sheet of lyrics to Eugene, who made her blush every time she looked at him.

Soon they got around to the twelfth verse.

"_On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, __twelve drummers drummin'!_" sang Hook Hand.

"_Eleven pipers pipin'!" _rang out Big Nose, holding the hand of his new girlfriend, Erica.

"_Ten __lords a-leapin'!" _Vladimir yelled.

_"Nine ladies dancin'!" _Cupid sang in a nasally voice.

_"Eight maids a-milkin'!" _Rapunzel added.

_"Seven swans a-swimmin'!" _Tor sang.

_"Six geese a-layin'!"_ Gunther shouted.

_"Five gold rings!" _they all turned to see Eugene adding on. Rapunzel smiled harder. He could be so...Eugene sometimes. Scratch that. All the time.

_"Four calling birds!" _Atilla added loudly as he took out his cupcakes.

_"Three French hens!" _Bruiser and Killer added together.

_"Two turtle doves!" _Fang raised up two little dove puppets he had made himself.

They all joined together as they sang the finale, _"And a partridge in a pear treeee!" _Rapunzel gasped and inhaled deeply; that took a lot out of her. The other songs they started to sing were easier on her throat.

They all merrily sang, "Deck the Halls", "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", "Joy to the World", "Emmanuel" and "Jingle Bells", eating Atilla's cooled and frosted cupcakes in between lyrics. The sun was starting to set as the torrents of snow grew thicker. Hook Hand took the book and flipped through it a moment before giving it back to Rapunzel, asking, "Do you think you can sing this song?"

Rapunzel took the book and examined the music sheet carefully. The song was called, "Oh, Holy Night." She had learned to read music while she was in her tower (for one must learn how to play guitar) and she could tell that this needed some very strong vocal cords. She gingerly touched her throat at the sound of it. What if her singing was high pitched and squeaky, ringing in people's ears? Oh, that would be horrible, especially for Pascal. He had such tiny ears, and she didn't want to damage them.

She handed it back to him, whispering, "I don't think I can do it."

"Of course you can," Hook Hand said confidently.

"Rephrase: I'll break everybody's ears," Rapunzel said.

Hook Hand smiled at her. "Your highness, you'll do great. Besides, it's either you or me and I sure as heck am not going to do it."

Rapunzel smiled at his reasoning. "Alright then." He nodded and placed the book back on the stand and started to play the tune. The chattering that the thugs had been doing quieted as Rapunzel stood up straight and reading the music and following the tune, sang, _"Oh, holy night. The stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear savior's birth. Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, 'til he appeared and the soul felt its worth."_

The atmosphere in the room grew from being that of a pub to that of a sober cathedral. All who had been sitting immediately stood up, all ears perked at the sound of her voice, sweet and clear. Eugene and Pascal looked from each other to the singing princess. She had sang a lot, of course, but this, this seemed to make her more...alive, if you could be more alive than Rapunzel.

Rapunzel sucked in a quick breath and continued, _"__A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices for yonder brings, a new and glorious morn!" _Her voice went from her regular voice to that of an opera singer. _"Falllllll, on your kneeees, oh hear, the angels' voices, oh nightttttttt, divine! Ohhhh, night, when Christ was born."  
_

It started with a sniff from Vladimir, who in turn started Big Nose off. Before she could finish _"the angels' voices," _she had everyone in the Snuggly Duckling, except for herself, sniffling. Big Nose blew his nose in his hankerchief while Erica patted him on the shoulder. Ulf was wiping away imaginary tears, though they seemed to be all too real. Vladimir had started to nearly sob as several of the others started to wipe at their eyes.

Pascal's eyes were gleaming and Eugene blew his nose with a hankerchief from his pocket, his eyes never straying from her.

Goodness, did he love her.

The suspense built as Rapunzel sucked in another breath and sang with all her might, _"Oh, nightttttttttt, divinnnnneeeeeeeeeeee! Oh, night, oh night divine." _Her hands rose to the air as her chest puffed up. It didn't seem for possible for such a small girl to be able to emit such a sound, but it was deemed possible as she shook the rafters. The last note ended and her hands fell, panting wildly for the need of air.

The entire Duckling exploded into a world of applause. Men clapping wildly and occasionally letting one of their fingers go up to their eyes to wipe away at them. Pascal stood up on his hind legs, his paws starting to smart from his clapping, but he didn't stop.

Eugene got from his seat and over to the stage. Rapunzel gulped in breath as he went behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her up, and she asked, out of breath, "How did I do?"

He smiled and said, "Perfect."

**Man, I wish I could find a video of Mandy Moore singing Oh, Holy Night. Wouldn't that be the coolest thing? The songs mentioned were not made until after the time Tangled was set in, but do I care? No, not really. I hope you liked it, and please review!**


	9. Snuggling Together By An Open Fire

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. I came up with this cutesy idea just because it seemed to be something that Rapunzel and Eugene would do. Get y'all in the cozy Christmas spirit!**

"Eugene, come on, tell me," Rapunzel asked, smiling excitedly. She was all wrapped up in a blanket on the loveseat that was in the family parlor. She had covered herself so that all you could see was the top of her brunette hair.

Eugene was stooped next to the fire, stoking it with the poker and occasionally adding a stick of wood to make it grow higher. The log he just added crackled and popped, shifting the other logs in the fire and causing the flames that were growing to leap even higher. It was the night before Christmas Eve, and the King and Queen were busy with running-the-country stuff, so he and Rapunzel took this as an opportunity to do something alone together, without even Pascal, who had fallen asleep immediately following supper.

"I'm not going to tell you, Blondie," he answered her, keeping his eyes on the fire.

"Oh, PLEASE, I just want an itsy-bitsy teensy weensy clue about my Christmas present," Rapunzel said, her voice muffled by the green blanket. She curled her feet in more. The snow outside seemed to make the room colder even though there was windows and walls separating them.

"Well, princess," Eugene said slowly as he put the poker down and went over to the loveseat. He sat down on the left side, nearly crushing Rapunzel's toes. She squealed and curled them closer to herself. Eugene didn't finish his sentence for instead he picked up the end of the blanket to reveal Rapunzel's bare toes.

"Eugene!" she squealed. "Put that blanket back! My feet are getting cold!"

"I should say they're getting cold," he counteracted, "ever heard of socks?"

"Yes, yes I have," Rapunzel said. How could he think that she hadn't know about socks? She sat up straighter, the blanket falling off of her shoulders and said, "They fall off under the covers."

"Sure," Eugene rolled his eyes. He let his arm run along the top of the loveseat until it came upon Rapunzel's shoulders. She smiled as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against his shoulder, quiet for that moment. It was hard to be mad at each other, especially if it was just over socks.

The only sounds that could be heard was the howl of the snow filled wind outside and the warm crackle of the fire. Rapunzel could feel his chest go up and down, making her smile bigger. It was nice, knowing that he was alive. When he had died . . . she shook her head quickly to rid herself of such sour thoughts. She never wanted to remember that part of that day. Ever.

Rapunzel decided to think about happier things, like Christmas. Christmas was never much of a thing growing up in the tower. Gothel got her a small present, they'll make a nice dinner and they'll sing a song. Period. Done. Rapunzel had never questioned her about anything else, like what other people did for Christmas. She never asked because one, Gothel would get angry, and two, it was most likely gruesome and such. After all, practically everyone in the world was a ruffian or thug back then.

But now there was all this stuff that people did for Christmas that made Rapunzel happy. Singing songs, decorating, spending time with her friends and family. There was one thing that nagged at her mind though, and she didn't know the answer to it.

"Eugene?" she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Hmmm?" was his answer.

"Why do we celebrate Christmas?"

Eugene cleared his throat and sat up straighter, "Well, Rapunzel, the reason why we celebrate Christmas is to celebrate the birth of God's son. Now, the reason we give each other presents is because Christmas is the season of giving, and when we give presents to each other, it makes us all very happy."

"Alright, so it's like we're celebrating a birthday?" Rapunzel asked.

"Exactly. Giving gifts is one of the many traditions of Christmas. One of the other traditions of Christmas is Father Christmas," Eugene added on.

Rapunzel sat up straighter, her brown locks falling in front of her face. She wiped them away and asked, "Who's Father Christmas?"

Eugene's eyes twinkled. "Ah, yes. You see, Rapunzel, on Christmas Eve night, when all the children are tucked in their beds, Father Christmas goes to each house where there is children, but he won't go to your house if you've been bad."

"Why not?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well, do bad children deserve presents?" Eugene asked her.

Rapunzel thought about that for a moment and answered, "I think some of them do. I mean, if they do only a couple of bad things, they should get a present, but if they're bad children, I guess not."

"Right. So, Father Christmas comes with his bag full of gifts. He wears a dark red robe trimmed with white and tied with a belt around the middle, and big, black boots. He wears a floppy red hat, trimmed with white fur. He rides on a sleigh covered in bells that is pulled by eight magical deer. He goes up to each house and quietly slips through the door. Each child will have hung their stockings on the mantlepiece for him to fill."

"Was that why the thugs had stockings on the fireplace in the Snuggly Duckling?" Rapunzel asked eagerly, the story bringing a blush to her cheeks.

"Yep."

"Do you think I can make us stockings so we can hang them tomorrow night?" Rapunzel asked eagerly. She knew how to knit very quickly.

"Sure, if you want to. If the children are good, he fills the stockings with oranges and such and if they're bad, he fills them with coal. Then, if the children are good, he leaves presents under their Christmas tree for them, and he does this for all the children in the world."

"He does?" Rapunzel wondered curiously. She sat back in her seat and said softly, "He's never been to the tower."

Eugene smiled softly at her and whispered into her ear, "That's because he doesn't exist."

Rapunzel sat straight up and gave him a what? look. He smiled and laid back against the seat. Rapunzel scowled and frowned as she gave him a poke to the arm. He stifled a laugh and rubbed his arm. "Then why did you tell me he exists?"

"I never said that! I never said the story was true! It's folklore, Rapunzel. There is no Father Christmas! It's something parents tell their kids to get them all happy for the holiday," he explained in his defense.

"We don't need Father Christmas to get us all happy for Christmas! I'm already happy! Besides, Eugene, that's lying!" Rapunzel accused.

"Don't blame me!" Eugene quickly said. "I didn't come up with it!"

Rapunzel sighed and leaned against his shoulder again. "Parents shouldn't have to lie to their kids."

"Yeah, they shouldn't," he sighed. He smiled after a moment and said, "And so when we have kids, we won't lie to them."

Rapunzel instantly stiffened at his words. She would have sat up and said something to him, that is, if she could think of something to say. She merely blushed a bright pink and snuggled into his comforting shoulder. It was times like this where she couldn't love him more.

They sat in the dark parlor (save the fire) for a few more minutes. The snow covered windows covered the light that might have come through into the room, and the Christmas tree candles added to the holiday atmosphere.

Eugene wrapped the bit of loose blanket around her shoulders, causing her to hmm in happiness. She lifted her face to look into his brown eyes and said softly, "Eugene?"

"Yes, love?" he answered just as quietly.

"You haven't answered my question," Rapunzel explained.

"And what question was that?"

"What are getting me for Christmas?" Rapunzel reminded him, her bright green eyes full of mischief.

"Ah, that," Eugene said, sitting up straighter. "I can't tell you that."

Rapunzel pleaded, "Please, just one clue?"

"No," he answered. No one besides himself and Maximus and maybe one or two unimportant people knew what he was getting Rapunzel. He had thought himself to be quite original to be getting this present for her.

"Please?" Rapunzel asked again, her lower lip stuck out in a pout.

"Don't look at me like that," Eugene smiled. In truth, she looked very adorable like that.

"Please?" she asked again, this time filled with less wanting, for she knew that he probably would never give in.

"No," he replied. When she sighed and didn't change the expression on her face, Eugene said, "Now, stop making your face look like that, or I'll change it myself." When she didn't, he sighed and said in a quiet voice, "All right then," and he leaned forward and wrapped his lips around hers.

Rapunzel wasn't all that surprised that he did that. She couldn't help but smile as much as she could as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He carefully planted his hands around her waist and pulled her closer.

The little chameleon who was watching them through a crack in the door squealed and ran back to his room.

**Was that too much dialogue? *Shrugs* Since Santa doesn't exist, I mixed up versions of him to make my ****own, and Jesus' birthday had to be included, like it or not. I hope you did like it, though, and please leave a review!**


	10. The Night Before Christmas

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. I have been so busy this week, so, hopefully, I can get the last three chapters up in time for CHRISTMAS! Oh, and at Target (love the store), I got a Mountain Dew lip balm. IT IS SO CUTE!**

Pascal knew that this night was going to be great. He could tell from the sights, the smells, the atmosphere of the castle. He knew today was going to be a great day because it was the day before Christmas, the best day of the year.

All the morning, he watched from a water-dripping window the townfolk going about the village. In their arms were packages of every shape and size, wrapping in brown paper and red paper and green paper and tied with big bows. Children's laughter caught his ears as they terrorized each other by running after one another with giant snowballs.

He sat by patiently as the afternoon dragged on by, time slowing in that era to make that evening come slower. The smells coming from the kitchen was amazing, and the atmosphere of the bustling servants and cheery guards only supplied more cheerfulness.

Rapunzel, it seemed, was fueled by such things. She had started to knit almost immediately and nary took time to put the needles down. Catherine, along with one of her ladies-in-waiting, knitted stockings for the King and Queen to hang over the fireplace, but Rapunzel was the one who took on the challenge of knitting four large stockings for the fireplace.

Late the night before, she was knitting and had nearly finished Maximus', (which was a white stocking trimmed with brown and gold). That morning she had finished it and had made her own, (a purple with golden trimmings) and Pascal's (a green with golden trimmings) and was nearly finished with Eugene's (dark blue with golden trimmings).

Pascal, on the windowsill, sighed contentedly and turned to Rapunzel. While practically everyone else in the castle were running around like mad men, Rapunzel was as relaxed as could be. She was wearing a light and white dress, her bare feet on her desk and her body on a chair, and her hands were knitting away like there was no tomorrow. She continued knitting for a few more seconds before yelling, "I'm done!"

She eagerly cut the yarn with her teeth and threw it onto the desk. Setting back upright like a normal person, she flattened the four stockings on the desk. With a quick nod of approval, she reached and grabbed a sheet of red and green cloth. She cut out letters with great, big sewing scissors and plastered all their names on the top of the stockings with paste.

After a few minutes of adjusting and cleaning, Rapunzel looked up to Pascal with a smile and said, "They're done!"

Pascal smiled excitedly and jumped onto her shoulder, his sitting position precarious. They were very pretty, no loose ends or missed stitches. He was so proud of her.

He had barely given her a nod when they turned to hear a knock on her door.

"Your Highness?" one of the ladies-in-waiting that attended the Queen and Rapunzel, Madeline, called.

"Yes, Madeline?" Rapunzel asked.

"It's nearly five o'clock and you're not dressed yet," she pointed out, her voice full of worry and Pascal just knew that she was wringing her hands.

Rapunzel looked at the pendulum swinging gently from the clock on her wall and looked up to see the hands nearly at the five and twelve mark. "Oh, goodness," she said as she carefully picked off Pascal, "I need to get dressed!"

She quickly looked outside for a moment before she turned to get ready. It was a cloudy day, with no sun or dangerous clouds in sight.

"Please don't let it snow or rain, please don't let it snow or rain," Rapunzel pleaded. Her fingers crossed together as she gave a last, little look and turned to the door.

She immediately let Madeline in and together they were able to get Rapunzel ready for the Christmas Eve Banquet. Rapunzel was rushed through a quick bath, (an extensive amount of time was spent on her hair) and was finally pulled into a tiny corset (princess rules rule supreme, blah) and into the most wonderful dress Pascal had ever seen her wear.

It was a silver dress with a small v-neck and golden trimming surrounding all the fabric around the v-neck and the collar and the ends of the sleeves. Rapunzel wore a slip under it so that it wasn't so see-through. After carefully putting on the dress, Rapunzel put on tiny, little white socks that had lacy tops. Her shoes (her silver colored ones that sparkled), were pulled on and she slipped on a pair of white gloves, which she actually thought to be very cute and clever.

On came the jewelry (no makeup for Rapunzel. Not only did she not need it, she did not like it). A pearl necklace was tied about her small neck and a sparkling silver ring was on one of her fingers. She giggled constantly as Madeline tried to poke pearl earrings into the holes in her ears, but kept missing. Pascal managed to put on a silver bow tie (only because Rapunzel wanted him to dress up. That and he thought that it made him look distinguished).

Rapunzel finally stood up and gazed in the mirror as Madeline, smiling, placed a tiara on her head. It settled on her brown locks and Rapunzel let out a little squeal of excitement.

"Perfect, Your Highness," Madeline said, bowing as she stood back.

Rapunzel let out another little squeal and bent down to Pascal and asked, "How do I look Pascal?"

The little chameleon immediately gave her a thumb's up, making her squeal more and start to twirl. Her little nimble feet made her spin around the mirror before Madeline quickly said, "Please stop, your majesty, you'll get too dizzy!"

Pascal could hear the princess sigh as she slowed to a stop. Standing upright, he lifted his hands high in the air and let out a little squeak and a chirp. Rapunzel giggled and picked him up with both hands and smiled as he rubbed into her cheek.

"Come on, Pascal," Rapunzel smiled as she turned to the door. A knock was rapped onto the wooden gate before she could take one step closer to it.

"Rapunzel?" a voice called.

"Yes, Eugene?" Rapunzel called back, giggling silently as Pascal crawled onto her shoulder.

"You ready? Can I come in?"

"Yes," Rapunzel smiled as she smoothed her skirts, "yes you may."

The ex-thief slowly opened the door to see Rapunzel beaming right next to him. he was wearing his black vest with black pants and a poinsettia was in his button pocket. Madeline raised her eyebrows and quietly slipped into the bathroom to busy herself until they went down.

Rapunzel giggled as Pascal waved to him. Eugene smiled and offered her a hand, "Shall we go down?"

Rapunzel's hands had been sore for all the knitting she had been doing, and normally when someone would take her hand like this, it would hurt, but she couldn't help but smile even more as his larger and warm hand melted into hers, as if they were like a puzzle that was just completed, cool and not hurting at all. "Yes."

Hand and hand, they went down the hall. As it was Rapunzel's first Christmas as a princess, instead of a large banquet with lords and ladies and other royalty from Corona's surrounding countries, the King and Queen had decided to have a more homey and cozy Christmas Eve dinner.

The three came down the white staircase in the middle of the large foyer and nearly slipped when they walked over to the door leading to the dining room. Apparently, the guards weren't very good at wiping the snow off of their boots. Rapunzel giggled and squealed as she clutched Eugene's sleeve, trying to catch her balance. Eugene put one hand on her small arm to help her keep her balance and opened the door with his other.

Their elbows interlocked, the two lovebirds walked through the door and were greeted by the happy shouts and greetings from the Pub Thugs. Rapunzel giggled and did a little curtsy before taking a seat next to her mother. Eugene took the seat across from hers and Rapunzel let Pascal crawl off of her shoulder and onto the little chair set up for him on the table.

There was all the Pub Thugs, dressed in brown suits and bow ties and even Vladimir was wearing a top hat. There was the Captain of the Guard (second only to Maximus in rank) and his wife, Mrs. Captain, and their four red-haired daughters, who were wearing new red and green dresses.

The feast commenced without anymore delay. The servants bustled in and all the guests and royals ate through seven courses, including a Christmas pudding and several bottles of sparkling cider. The whole dinner party hummed with laughter, chatter and forks banging against china plates and bowls.

Rapunzel never wanted for the dinner to end, but at seven, Catherine and William stood up, the King with a glass. He gently tapped the wine goblet with a silver fork, causing there to be a ring that captured everyone's attention.

"Now, guests and friends, seeing as supper went over well and since it is now all consumed, I suggest we all gather in the parlor for gifts," William announced. Everyone chatted like little birds in the spring as the King and Queen led them, elbows together, into the parlor.

Once every person had come in, Vladimir shut the door and he and Hook Hand gathered the bags of gifts there were sitting limply on the ground. Several more chairs had been brought in, and Vladimir took a large arm chair to sit in as he passed around the gifts.

With Pascal on her shoulder with an excited grin, Rapunzel tore into the presents from the Thugs and the Captain's family. She received a packet of hair ribbons from the Captain's brood, a package of paintbrushes from Big Nose and Erica, a new and pretty vase from Tor, a lovely painting from Gunther, a beret from Ulf, a much appreciated cookbook from Atilla, a new scarf from Bruiser, a cross-stitch from Killer, a puppet stage from Fang, a pair of unicorns from Vladimir and many more presents, but there was one she appreciated more than the others. The one from Hook Hand.

Still somewhat nestled in its brown wrapping paper and red bow was the Christmas carol book from when they had been singing songs. She looked at it for a moment before turning to a smiling Hook Hand, who was settled down quite comfortably in a chair.

"Hook Hand, why did . . ." was all that she could say.

Hook Hand bent down to her and said in his deep voice, "It was my first Christmas song book, and when I saw how you liked it so much, I decided that it would be your first one too."

Rapunzel smiled warmly and stood up. Without a word, she flung her arms around his neck and squeezed him gently. He patted her on the back as she whispered, "Thank you, Hook Hand."

Soon all the presents were unwrapped and all their wrapping material thrown about. Gunther could hardly be recognized because of the hat he was wearing that Rapunzel had knitted for him (unfortunately for him, she didn't quite get his measurements right).

Rapunzel, leaning against Eugene, smiled as she gazed into the fire. All were quiet for a moment before a knock came from the way of the door.

"Yes?" King William asked, not even bothering to turn toward the noise as he wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder, who eagerly snuggled into his warm embrace.

"Sir," Rapunzel and Eugene shared a smile when they recognized that voice to be that of a young Conli, "it's time."

Everyone smiled and rose to get up, that is, everyone one but Rapunzel. As the rest of the party filed out to get their warm winter things, Rapunzel sat on the rug by the fire, her eyes closed and fingers crossed.

Eugene, with Pascal on his shoulder, looked over the crowd of people and didn't notice Rapunzel, so they turned back into the parlor to see what she was up to.

His hands holding the door, Eugene peeked inside and said, "Rapunzel?"

She opened her eyes and turned to face them. "Yes?"

"What are you doing?"

Rapunzel smiled as she stood up, playing with a lock of hair, "I was wishing that it wouldn't snow tonight, so the best part of Christmas Eve can go on without any delay."

Eugene shared a quick smiled with Pascal before saying, "Don't worry. Conli made sure that it's not snowing."

Rapunzel bounced to the door and stood beside him, beaming, as she said, "Then let's go!" and with that, she raced off after everyone, her slippers nearly flying off. Eugene smirked and Pascal held on as the two quickly caught up with everyone else.

After going through the foyer to collect all their cloaks, coats, hats, scarfs, mittens (knitted by Bruiser), boots, mufflers and ear muffs, Catherine walked over to a table and handed everyone their supplies for the evening's main event.

The lights in the foyer dimmed and all the guests shuffled outside to find good spots. Catherine dusted off whatever dust had gotten on her before taking her items. The King, Rapunzel, Eugene and even Pascal got the items needed.

They could all hear the crowd outside, talking and chatting in the cold. Rapunzel's cheeks were turning pink, and she hoped to go out soon; her outfit was making her rather warm.

"Is it time, dear?" Queen Catherine said in her quiet voice as she turned to King William. He slowly nodded and the two royals linked arms. Eugene and Rapunzel smiled to each other and did likewise.

The guards on either side of the grand doors reached out and each grabbed a knob. As if like one person, they swiftly opened the doors at the same time, revealing the cold winter wonderland. The King and Queen both walked out first, letting Rapunzel catch a look of the front balcony. All the floor and railing were covered with snow from this morning, but the clear, dark blue sky was rid of any snowflakes.

With an even bigger smile on her face, Rapunzel walked in step with Eugene, (with Pascal on his shoulder), onto the balcony. The three royals and ex-thief and chameleon found their spots on the snow covered balcony.

All the people of Corona filled the cold streets, bundled in their winter clothes and holding the required items needed for the event.

King William turned to Conli, who had nervously followed them. Trembling violently, the guard lit a match and managed to light a large, white candle. Hastily blowing the match out, he cautiously lit the King's white candle that the royal held in his hand. The King smiled and nodded, which made poor Conli smile in the relief. The guard went to light all the others' candles (those who were on the balcony, at least) while the villagers started to light their own with their own large, white candles.

Rapunzel giggled slightly when her wick caught the flame. Flame always amazed her, how a thing supplied with wood could be warm and bright and so beautiful. Pascal had a lit candle as well, and had to be careful not to catch Eugene's hair on fire.

Once everyone's candles were lit, Catherine smiled and turned to Rapunzel. The princess leaned in as the Queen whispered, "Do you want to start us off?"

Rapunzel bit her lip and broke the gaze. She loved singing with people but this was thousands of people! What-what if...she saw the Thugs in the corner of the courtyard. She saw the little red-haired girls. She saw the Captain standing with Maximus. They were smiling at her. They knew she would do it and be great.

She turned back to her mother and said, "Alright." Letting go of Eugene's elbow, she crossed the balcony to the railing. One hand holding a candle, the other a tall, circular shaped object that she was so very familiar with, she took a deep breath and said, _"Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright." _

Behind her, she could hear her mother, father and boyfriend and best friend walk up beside her. Their voices sang along with hers, _"Round yon virgin mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace."_

All the people in the crowd and on the balcony, all those still in the palace and on the waters by the docks of Corona joined in to sing the second verse. All their voices carried out into the cold, winter wind, adding a warmth to the otherwise freezing cold weather.

All together, they sang the last lyric, _"Jesus, Lord, at thy birth." _Then all together, they slipped their candles through the top of the lanterns they had been holding in their hands. All the lanterns were white with red trimmings and a golden sun was on the royals' lanterns.

The four people and chameleon on the balcony smiled at one another and all at once, let their lanterns rise into the sky. The four large and one small lanterns signaled all the people of Corona to set off their lanterns. The sky immediately started to fill with the white lights.

Rapunzel wrapped her arms around Eugene's arm and sighed contentedly, her head against his shoulder. He smiled and reached over and stroked her hair comfortingly as the lanterns flew higher, and higher into the sky.

* * *

After the lanterns had drifted off and all the people had returned home to their beds, the royal family, Eugene and Pascal gathered in the parlor. The King was wrapped up in a dark blue bathrobe that covered his night clothes, and Catherine was in a dark purple nightgown under her white robe. Rapunzel was wearing a white lacy nightgown under her lavender robe and Eugene wore his white shirt and brown pants. Pascal was snoozing under a blanket on the floor, having fallen asleep from the evening.

Without a word, Rapunzel retrieved the stockings from the coffee table and Eugene grabbed the hammer and nails. The King and Queen watched with smiles as Rapunzel patiently held up the stockings while Eugene hammered them onto the mantle.

Once done, he put the tools back on the coffee table and he and Rapunzel sat down on the loveseat, their arms wrapped around one another.

"Do you really think Father Christmas isn't real?" Rapunzel asked.

"You never know for certain, Blondie. I think that it isn't Father Christmas that is important, but what he represents. Giving and being happy around the holidays," he turned to face Rapunzel's pink face, "you know what I mean?"

Rapunzel smiled and whispered, "I'm starting to."

And at that moment, the clock struck twelve.

"Merry Christmas, Eugene," Rapunzel whispered, the clock ringing in the background.

"Merry Christmas, Rapunzel," Eugene whispered back.

The King and Queen would have added their Christmas Day's greetings, but the veil of sleep had fallen upon them, and they only stay awake enough to go to bed, ready for the day that was to come.

**Sorry that that took forever, I'm using the old being busy excuse. OH MY GOSH, HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN THE LITTLE SNIPS AND PREVIEWS OF TANGLED EVER AFTER ON YOUTUBE? THEY. ARE. AMAZING. Not the best quality, but WE DON'T CARE! Was the lantern/candle idea nice? Please let me know in your reviews!**


	11. Under the Tree

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. Hey, you guys, ONLY TWO DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS! Just thought I should let you know, for I'm not sure that all my very subtle hints and reminders were able to convey that. Oh, in Corona, it's Christmas morning...PRESENTS!**

Catherine woke straight up, her back stiffened and her face went white. William beside her followed her manner, facing her with a face that was shocked and surprised, very different from his usually calm demeanor.

"What was that screaming?" Catherine asked him, alarmed beyond belief. Without another word, they both bolted from their bed and ran out the door, dragging their quickly grabbed bathrobes behind them.

The halls were unusually quiet and calm, (very rare for a Christmas morning in Corona), making Catherine feel on edge as she ran on ahead. The royal followed the other as they raced through the castle's many corridors, zig-zaging their way to Rapunzel's room, the first place where they hoped to find their daughter.

"Rapunzel?" Catherine yelled as William fumbled with the door knob. She shouted her name again as he managed to flung the door open. Catherine quickly looked about the room and saw her daughter and her green friend standing by the bed, each covering their mouths with their hands.

Catherine lost no time racing to her daughter's side and wrapped her into her arms, her hands stroking her small back, motherly instinct taking over. What happened to her precious girl, the one she only had for a few months now?

"Rapunzel, what-what was that screaming? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Catherine asked hurriedly as she backed a way a bit to examine her, her hands still holding Rapunzel in a hug.

"Where there someone else in this room? Were you attacked?" William asked just as quickly, surrounding his favorite two women protectively.

Rapunzel squirmed uncomfortably and blushed. She turned to the ground to look at Pascal for help, but he merely shot her a sheepish face and blended into the color of the floor and crawled away.

"Well," she said slowly, giggling a little bit, "I wasn't attacked and I don't hurt at all. Pascal and I were just actually saying merry Christmas to each other. Really loudly."

Catherine exhaled and turned to William, and while his visage was quite stern, the firm wrinkles on his face sticking out and his lips turned into a frown, she could detect a little twinkle in his deep eyes.

"Rapunzel," Catherine sighed and said firmly, placing her hands on the small teen's shoulders, "you can not go and scream like that. You woke both your father and I up and we were scared half to dead that something had happened to you."

The sheepish smile on Rapunzel's face melted as she sighed and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake y'all up or alarm you or anything. I was just being excited and decided that yelling would help, I guess?"

Catherine smiled and pulled Rapunzel close to her again. "It's okay, dear. Just don't do it again," Catherine pulled apart again to look at Rapunzel's face, "okay?"

Rapunzel smiled. "Okay."

It was at that moment several guards from their night positions, helmets falling over their heads and back sagging from not sleeping, and Eugene burst into the room, all armed and ready with frying pans. They all stopped and stared at the small royal family and a wave of embarrassment came over them and they all sheepishly let their frying pans down.

"Did I miss something?" Eugene asked, his hair rumpled and his face a mixture of worry and confusion.

Catherine looked over her daughter's head and smiled. "No, not much."

* * *

William and Catherine returned to their bedroom, relieved and rumpled, and managed to pull on their nice and normal clothes that would do well for Christmas morning. Eugene, after hugging Rapunzel and stroking her hair while quietly scolding her for scaring everybody, went to go get dressed in something more appropriate.

Rapunzel really didn't get why everyone had been so scared about her screaming, "Merry Christmas!" Was it her tone of voice or her volume that made everyone come running into her room? I'm not really quite sure, she thought as she slipped on a dark and deep green dress with white trimmed sleeves and collar. Pascal stood by on her bedside table, ready when she was.

After pulling a hairbrush through her reluctant hair, ("Ouch!"), Rapunzel slipped on a pair of slippers and grabbed Pascal, running out the door.

The servants were now all walking through the halls, carrying and talking and chatting, wishing season's greetings and dodging the little princess, who almost seemed to be skating around them, avoiding them all and quite kindly leaving them all in one piece.

She slipped into the dining room, the table covered with a white tablecloth and red bows, crystal and glass goblets lining the inside circle of it. Rapunzel knew that her mother and father would want to eat breakfast first, but she kept glancing behind her back to where the door leading to the hallway that ran past the family parlor sat.

Her parents and Eugene soon showed up. They calmly took their seats, Rapunzel watching them, shaking in her seat, wondering how they could be so calm. HOW COULD THEY BE SO CALM?

After her father slowly said a prayer, (an extra long one too, it was Christmas after all), Rapunzel and Pascal both scarfed down their food, causing the King and Queen to exchange strange looks. The other three more sane people at the table had barely gotten through their food when Rapunzel stood up, Pascal on her shoulder, and ran, grabbing Eugene's hand and causing him to stumble as she dragged him out the door.

William and Catherine watched after them before looking back at each other.

"I think it's time for presents," William said slowly, shoving his chair back.

"Agreed," Catherine smiled as she reached out and grabbed his arm and started to run to the door, William stumbling and clutching her hand hurriedly. In the midst of all her grabbing and running, the older man was able to grab the ruff of Pascal's neck, causing the chameleon to squeal as his toast fell out of his hands.

Together, they ran after the two, and caught up with them at the parlor. Rapunzel giggled excitedly as Eugene caught his breath, hands on his knees. Catherine let go of her husband's hand and opened the white door, leading the way to the warm Christmas tree.

All the candles on the Christmas tree were alit and shining, casting light on the presents below it. All the misshaped packages were wrapped up in various different kinds of paper, ribbons and bows placed artfully on top of each one.

Catherine and William exchanged a smile as she and Rapunzel stooped down next to the gifts while the King and ex-thief sat down on the chairs.

The fire in the fireplace cast a warm light on the already glowing faces of the two royal women. Together, they handed out various gifts for each other. Rapunzel dashed at her presents, throwing paper here and there while shrieking excitedly and yelling thank yous as she hugged the packages to herself.

The King and Queen and Eugene were a bit more calm in opening their presents, but Pascal was a bit more like the young princess. He would carefully take off the ribbon and fold it neatly before attacking the present mercilessly, tugging with his teeth and claws.

Soon the entire rug was covered in brightly colored paper. The Queen was sitting on the armrest of the seat William was sitting in, and Rapunzel was on the loveseat next to Eugene, snuggling in his shoulder. The stockings were all taken down and emptied. Rapunzel squealed excitedly at the oranges, hazelnuts (she so loved hazelnuts) and bracelets that fell out of the over-sized sock, but the one that she found the most unusual and interesting was a wooden doll.

Her mother said it was a nutcracker, a thick, toy soldier who would crack nuts. Rapunzel decided to test this idea out by taking one of her own smooth hazelnuts and trying it out. To her amass delight, the nutcracker split the shell, releasing the nut into her palm. The young princess giggled excitedly and soon a small pile of hazelnut shells became apparent on the lap of her dress. Seeing as the shells were falling on him, Eugene decided that this was the best time to give her her present.

He climbed off the loveseat and over to the Christmas tree, settling down amongst the wrappings. With a curious look, Rapunzel followed him and sat down on Pascal's bunch of neatly stacked ribbons, much to his chagrin.

Rapunzel watched as his hand shifted around the pile until it came upon a small rectangular package. Bringing it out into the light, he handed it to her and said, "Merry Christmas, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel smiled warmly and addressed the box, shaking it lightly to see if she could guess what was inside. Then, she unwrapped the package, peeling away the paper and ribbon to reveal a brown box. She took off the top and looked inside, and then turned to smile brightly at Eugene.

In the box was five little glass jars, each full of gold-colored paint. The color of the paint was just the shade of her used-to-be-golden-hair and all the little jars were carved, indeed by a master, for the craftsmanship was impeccable.

"Oh, Eugene," she breathed, "it's perfect."

"I got them from one of the traders at the port, and, and he said that they were made out of golden and white shells," Eugene pointed out excitedly.

Rapunzel grinned at him and gently wrapped her arms around him for a quick hug. He smiled into her shoulder before she backed up and said, "I have something for you too."

He watched as she found his gift under the stuff. It was a large box with a blue-purple colored paper wrapped around it. He tore off the paper revealing yet another brown box. Boxes were used a lot here in the castle. He took off the top and smirked happily. He reached inside and drew out a brown satchel, a near replica of his old one, wherever that one may be, only this one didn't have a patch in the corner.

Rapunzel giggled as she straightened up, cupped her hand to his ear and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Eugene."

**Was that too short or just right? There shall be the twelfth chapter after this, practically an epilogue. Merry Christmas, please leave a review! **


	12. That Perfect Moment

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Tangled. MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL MY LOVELY FANFICTION BUDDIES. I've been waiting for this day for a long time! Here is zee last chapter, a bit of cuteness, sweetness, and the ending to a grand holiday. **

That Christmas afternoon, after the going to church and the flurry of gifts and over-sized Christmas luncheon, Rapunzel made her way to the stables, holding Maximus's stocking in her hand to give to him.

The snow falling from the sky was light and airy, each little flake individual and unique, and the light from the sun bounced off of the white plains along the grass. The stables were just a few yards away from the snowy yard, so Rapunzel got there very quickly.

Maximus was in his stall at the end of the stable, munching away at the extra straw and carrots he had been given in the spirit of the holiday. He stopped chewing and looked up, however, when he heard the princess come into the stable.

"Merry Christmas, Maximus!" Rapunzel squealed as she raced over to his stall door, hanging her hands over it into his stable. From her hands dangled his stocking, which the horse immediately noticed and bent to sniff. His nostrils caught the smell of apples and fresh eggs coming from the stocking. He neighed excitedly as Rapunzel reached in and came out with a large red apple, beautiful and shiny. Maximus promptly sniffed and ate it.

Rapunzel giggled and reached in for another one. Just then Eugene came running up into the stall. She turned to the ex-thief for a moment, asking, "And where were you?"

Eugene shrugged, keeping his eyes on Maximus. "Just talking to your father about something." Rapunzel smiled and Eugene watched as one by one she fed him about five apples, and the ex-thief added a little warning, "Don't feed him too much or he'll get sick."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes playfully and held out another apple. "Says the man who gives him a bag full of apples."

Eugene rolled his eyes. Rapunzel decided he had a point and gently dumped the rest of the apples into a bucket in Maximus's stall for later. Reaching back into the bag, she drew out two hard-boiled eggs for him. She peeled the shells off of them and held them out. Maximus smiled and ate them both in less than a minute.

Rapunzel patted his mane and said, smiling, "Merry Christmas, buddy." Turning to Eugene, who was staring absentmindedly into space, she called, "Eugene?" When he didn't answer, she called a bit more sharply, "Eugene!"

He spun around and asked, "What?"

"Are, are you okay?" Rapunzel wondered, cocking her head and dubbing a quirky face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I've got the book," he said, hoping to get off subject as he reached into his new satchel and drew out a Bible. They were heading to the orphanage that Eugene had grown up in and were going to read the Christmas story to all the little kids.

Off they went down the road, passing by many townspeople and wishing everyone Merry Christmas. With their shoes covered in snow, they finally made it to the orphanage.

Stepping inside, they shook the snow off their boots on the thin rug by the door and were both immediately surrounded by children. The matrons smiled as they found seats, the small children gathering around them on the floor. Rapunzel reached into his satchel and drew out the Bible. Flipping through it, she found the passage and handed it to Eugene.

"There you go," she whispered, leaning against his shoulder. Eugene smiled and started reading...

It was nearly two hours later when they left. The late afternoon's sun was starting to fall, covering their walking path with sweet, pink light. Rapunzel giggled excitedly, clutching his arm, as they walked. Whilst she was all excited, however, Eugene seemed nervous and jittery.

Rapunzel noticed him acting weird. Every time she stared at his face, he would look at her with a sort of nervous smile, making her giggle somewhat nervously and look away. And for some weird reason, she would blush whenever she could feel his gaze on her.

Rapunzel was a bit perturbed by his behavior. He wasn't normally like this. When they finally went through the village and into the courtyard, Rapunzel stopped him, making him look at her as she said quietly, "Eugene, are you okay? You aren't acting normal."

He shrugged as he ran a hand through his dark, brown hair. "Yeah, sure."

"Are you sure that you're not sick? Because I think that the turkey seemed a tad pinker than it should have been," she asked. She squealed and covered her mouth in horror as she hurriedly asked, "Do you have food poisoning?"

He smiled slightly. "No, I don't think it's food poisoning. I think it's something else."

Rapunzel stood in front of him and looked into his eyes as she asked worriedly, "What do you think it is?"

He whispered one word. "Love." And at that moment, bathed in the pink light of the winter setting sun, on the cold and wet snow, he went down on one knee.

Rapunzel's hands flew to her mouth as he cleared his throat and licked his lips, his eyes wandering around the courtyard for some words to say. He finally looked up at her, and couldn't help but stare for a moment.

"Rapunzel," he said finally, almost hoarsely, but yet strong and clear, "I've only known you for a few months, but I feel like I've known you my entire life, which sounds really, really cheesy, but," he sighed, "I feel now that I never really lived until I met you. You've shown me the world like I've never seen it before; you're bright, cheery, delightful really, and it's really quite hard for someone not to love you.

"Rapunzel," he said slowly, "I've never loved a person like this my whole life, and, and I want to never spend another day away from you.

"Rapunzel, will you marry me?"

Rapunzel knew as he went down on one knee what was coming. Happy tears clouded her vision as he went on with his little speech. Sobs grew in her chest and she could barely speak.

"Eugene, I," she was able to make out.

"Rapunzel," he smiled as he slowly rose to his full height, "will you marry me?"

Rapunzel giggled, for it seemed that that was the only thing she could do at the moment.

"Well, marry me?" he asked again, seeming to love asking her such a question.

"Eugene," she choked out.

"Darling, marry me," he smiled, nearly on the verge of laughing.

Rapunzel smirked at his laughing and with a laugh, threw her weight at him, tackling him to the ground.

She giggled as she raised herself to look him in his glowing eyes, "Of course I'll marry you!"

* * *

William was lighting his pipe with a match. Once it was lit, he waved it around in the air to extinguish it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Catherine nervously pacing in front of the parlor window in the family parlor. Her face was screwed into that of anxiousness and she was wringing the life out of her limp handkerchief.

"William, you believe he'll ask when he comes back?" Catherine asked for the hundredth time.

William took the pipe out of his mouth to say, "Yes, Katie dear. The boy said that he had the perfect setting and perfect time. I hope it works out for him." He chuckled as he took another puff. "He was as nervous as a cat."

Catherine looked from her husband to the parlor window again. Peeking through the curtains, her face beamed at the sight of the two together in the yard, the ex-thief down on one knee and her daughter smiling and from what seemed from here to be tear-filled eyes.

"Will, quick, he's doing it!" Catherine motioned with her hand for her husband to come see. William was by the window in two seconds. He brushed back the curtain along with her, and smiled.

The two parents watched as Rapunzel tackled him, her face lit up.

"I think that was a yes," Catherine squealed, wrapping an arm around her husband.

William beamed. "Katie dear, our little girl's getting married."

"And Corona's getting a new prince consort," Catherine grinned.

They hugged each other tighter as Catherine whispered in the King's ear, "Merry Christmas, my darling."

He smiled and whispered back, "And a Merry Christmas to you too, sweetheart."

The two watched excitedly as Eugene slipped a ring on Rapunzel's ring finger.

The soon-to-be-Rapunzel-Fitzherbert's ring finger.

**AWWWW! There, he asked her, and asked her and asked her. The 'years' of asking I decided was how long it felt for him to ask her, if that makes any sense. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED! It seems like it was only a few months ago that they were hitting each other with frying pans and scheming to get the other's crown. **

**I hope the ending wasn't too cheesy, because I think that the day after Christmas, well, sucks, but this way, they'll have something to look forward to! I can't wait to see their wedding!**

**So to all my faithful readers, all you lovely peoples, I wish you all the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of new years. **

**The end.  
**

**Merry Christmas.**


End file.
